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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 37 Number 9
May 2010
Jones ousted as chief of NMFS fisheries enforcement
SILVER SPRING, MD – Under tremendous pressure from industry and members of Congress, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Director Eric Schwaab announced on April 8 the removal of Dale Jones from his position as chief of the NMFS Office of Law Enforcement (OLE).
Schwaab said the move was part of the agency’s response to the recent Department of Commerce Inspector General’s (IG) critical review of the federal fisheries enforcement program.
In making the announcement, Schwaab added that he had reassigned Alan Risenhoover, director of the NMFS Office of Sustainable Fisheries, to serve as OLE’s interim director and Emily Menashes to serve as acting director of sustainable fisheries.
The federal fisheries enforcement system has two main components – OLE, whose officers investigate alleged infractions, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation, whose attorneys file charges, assess penalties, and prosecute cases.
While the IG’s report identified system-wide problems with enforcement, Jones became the target of the most intense criticism following IG Todd Zinser’s revelations in March that the OLE chief had allegedly misused funds and authorized the shredding of documents during the IG’s investigation (see CFN April 2010).
Congressional reaction to Jones’ ouster was swift.
Said US Rep. John Tierney (D-MA), “I am hopeful this will lead to the end of the unfair and abusive practices by the enforcement agency toward our fishermen.”
More questions
However, Tierney and others stressed that the removal of Jones was only one of many steps that must be taken.
NOAA was silent on Jones’ status within the agency, declining to say whether he had been fired, put on leave, or reassigned. Schwaab indicated privacy rules prevented further discussion of the personnel changes.
This prompted US Rep. Water Jones (D-NC) to say, “As the IG report made clear, NOAA OLE has a problem with accountability and transparency and (the) announcement only magnifies those issues. The announcement made no mention of (Jones) or the circumstances surrounding his replacement,” the congressman said.
On April 16, US Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Mike McIntyre (D-NC), along with Reps. Jones and Tierney, sent a letter to NOAA Director Jane Lubchenco outlining specific concerns about her plan to fix the agency’s enforcement system.
The letter raised pointed questions about the Northeast region’s Office of General Counsel, which the IG’s report said doled out penalties far higher than other regions, and asked Lubchenco for a commitment to review pending enforcement cases in the region.
As CFN was going to press, NOAA announced the postponement of a fisheries enforcement forum originally scheduled for April 26 in Gloucester. The agency had come under harsh criticism for this “outreach” effort by individuals within the agency who have been associated with concerns raised in the IG’s report. /cfn/
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