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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 11
July 2009
Enforcement review is the right thing to do
Since the beginning of federal fisheries management in the Northeast in the late 1970s, the issue of enforcement has been rife with contention. But recent events, especially in the port of Gloucester, have intensified enforcement criticism. The public’s sense is that something is very wrong with the system.
Outrage over the apparent targeting of the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction and dozens of fishermen who sold their catches there led local state reps to request an investigation. The leadership of the Massachusetts Legislature followed suit and, in the end, so did senior members of the state’s congressional delegation.
On June 3, Jane Lubchenco, chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), announced that she had asked the Department of Commerce’s Office of Inspector General (IG) to conduct a formal review of the agency’s enforcement operations.
Lubchenco made the right call.
Part of the mission of the IG’s office is hunting down abuse and mismanagement within the Commerce Department to ensure that all of its agencies conduct their business in a manner that best serves the public. These agencies include the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and NOAA.
Additionally, the IG’s office, by definition, is committed to independence, objectivity, integrity, and accountability. It’s in the best interest of Lubchenco and the Obama Administration, of which she is a part, that this review is thorough, transparent, and fair.
In her announcement, Lubchenco clarified a point that is often missed by fisheries enforcement critics in the Northeast. She said she was asking the IG for an evaluation of the “overall approach to enforcement” by both the NMFS Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) and the NOAA Office of General Counsel.
Federal fisheries “law enforcement” is not conducted by one entity but by two separate agencies with distinctly different responsibilities. OLE basically is made up of the special agents on the waterfront who count and measure the fish, inspect dealer records, conduct interviews, and gather evidence. Once that process is done, they turn over what they find to NOAA General Counsel.
In the Northeast, the NOAA General Counsel’s office is staffed by a handful of attorneys who review that evidence, decide which cases to drop or prosecute, issue the notices of violation and assessment – called NOVAs – and then negotiate settlements or argue cases before Coast Guard administrative law judges.
There is no doubt in our minds that some fishermen feel they have been targeted by NMFS special agents. Or that NOAA General Counsel attorneys have singled out some fishermen for onerous fines and penalties to make examples out of them. Or that there continue to be serious questions about corruption within the Coast Guard administrative law system. All of this has resulted in many people in the fishing industry feeling that the system is stacked against them.
At the same time, OLE and NOAA general counsel have done the industry a favor by getting rid of some really bad actors over the years. History and common sense show us that fisheries management does not work without effective enforcement. Honest fishermen lose any hope of being able to successfully compete against lawbreakers, and illegal landings and discards derail stock rebuilding, which hurts everyone.
It is our sincere hope that the Commerce Department IG’s review will reveal – in terms that everyone can accept – what is working and what is broken in this complex system and that Lubchenco will take steps to correct any problems that are brought to light. /cfn/
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