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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 35 Number 1
September 2007
CFN enforcement report: Why it’s here
Based on reader feedback, one of the most widely read sections of Commercial Fisheries News is the enforcement report. And based on experience, we know that the enforcement report can both help and sometimes hurt fishermen, depending on the circumstances. So, we want our readers to know what goes into the report and why we publish it.
The enforcement report is made up of public information provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of General Counsel in Gloucester. It includes the notices of violation and assessment (NOVAs) and notices of permit sanction (NOPS) that the office has issued and/or resolved in a given month.
We do not edit the information in any way. The items in the enforcement report are simple statements of fact – vessel name, names of the companies or individuals charged, descriptions of the alleged violations, the date violations allegedly occurred, and the fine and/or permit sanction assessed by NOAA prosecutors.
In no way is the publication of a NOVA or NOPS an indication of a particular person’s guilt. Yet there have been times when people see this information and conclude that someone is a bad actor.
Some of the most difficult conversations we have ever had are with individual fishermen who have been targeted by their neighbors after their names have shown up in the enforcement report even as they insist they are innocent of the charges against them. It is never our intention to hurt any fisherman, and we sincerely regret that some people use information in CFN for that purpose.
The CFN enforcement report came to be at a time when scofflaws prospered by fishing flagrantly out of compliance with the regulations beside honest fishermen – and honest fishermen literally went out of business because of it. The report was an attempt to document the enforcement actions that were taking place so fishermen would know that at least some effort was being made to ensure that everyone followed the rules.
But today, there is no denying that commercial fishing regulations have become so numerous and convoluted that it’s almost impossible for even the most conscientious fishermen to be sure they’re always 100% legal. As a result, it’s inevitable that more good people are making unintended mistakes. And, unfortunately, the cost of making even an inadvertent mistake can be both personally and financially devastating.
Despite this problem, we believe the enforcement report is, overall, an effective vehicle for promoting public awareness and deterrence. And the report offers a window into how federal enforcement cases are prosecuted. It can even help people who have been charged with violations gauge the fairness of their assessed fines by comparing them to those handed down to other fishermen for similar infractions.
And so, we remain convinced that the enforcement report is a valuable resource for CFN readers. Let us know if you think differently. /cfn/
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