NOAA’S OVERHAUL DOESN’T GO FAR ENOUGH
NOAA’S OVERHAUL DOESN’T GO FAR ENOUGH
Does commend agency for new penalty policy
Washington, DC – Today, US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced new reforms to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Law Enforcement System. Rep. Bill Keating – whose first bill, the Strengthen Fisheries Management in New England Act, targeted NOAA abuses and waste – feels these reforms alone are not enough.
Said Rep. Keating:
“The changes announced today by Sec. Locke are a good first step, but they’re just that – a step and not a permanent solution.
For example, the use of monies from the Asset Forfeiture Fund (AFF) is now limited to prevent abuse, but the Commerce Department failed to direct how those funds should be used. It’s not enough to say what can’t be done. The Department needs to specify that those monies be used to either update NOAA’s research and data or offset the impending costs associated with mandated observers.
The primary issues plaguing the fishing industry involve catch limits and quotas. Improving our scientific knowledge of marine fisheries, updating stock assessments more frequently and conducting increased fishery-independent surveys will enable us to have more accurate stock assessments. It is vital to the survival of the fishing industry to ensure that stock assessments are based on the most current science.
I do applaud the Department’s decision to allow fishermen to request a stay of payment while their cases are being reviewed. No one should have to pay out of pocket before there has been a final adjudication as to the infringement and appropriate fine. Streamlining the assessment process for penalties is also a positive change.
I will continue to work with the members of the Massachusetts delegation on this issue and implore NOAA to take into account the social and economic impact of their decisions on the New England fishing industry.”
Expedited, improved science provides for accurate catch limits and quotas to be put in place. Realizing there was a lack of funds to achieve that goal, Rep. Keating introduced HR 1013, the Strengthen Fisheries Management in New England Act as his first piece of original legislation.
HR 1013 requires that penalties collected from New England fishermen by NOAA be used to improve the management of New England fisheries. Current law requires fines and penalties collected from fishermen who have violated marine resource laws to be invested in AFF, which allows for NOAA to pay for a wide range of enforcement activities.
Recent media reports, however, have indicated that NOAA has abused this power, and has consistently failed to utilize those funds for the purposes for which they were intended. Last year, the Department of Commerce Inspector General found that funds from the AFF were used to buy cars for federal agents, to cover trip expenses to fishing conferences in distant locations and to purchase a $300,000 luxury vessel used by government employees. It was subsequently determined that NOAA did not regularly audit the use of those funds and could not disclose precisely how the AFF monies were spent.
While NOAA’s new limitations to the use of funds from AFF are targeted to prevent abuse, they do not go far enough to describe the proper enforcement activities on which those funds can be used.
HR 1013, which does not add to the deficit, specifically directs the US Secretary of Commerce to provide the New England Fishery Management Council (Council) with the AFF funds that have been collected from New England fishermen for direct use toward improving the research and management of New England’s fisheries.
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