A congressional subcommittee has set the date for its oversight hearing into a U.S. Inspector General's findings that a largely autonomous federal fisheries law enforcement agency has mistreated fishermen as if they were criminals, leading to a "dysfunctional" relationship between regulators and the regulated.
Chairwoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo, D-Guam, announced the hearing before the Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife will be March 3 at 2 p.m. in Washington; the hearing will be Webcast live on the committee's Web site.
Members of the staff of Commerce Department IG Todd Zinser and representatives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency which polices federal waters, are expected to appear.
Although NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco has announced a series of stopgap measures in response to key findings, the investigators have not commented publicly beyond the 26-page report, which noted that additional work and findings would be posted regarding important individual cases.