BOSTON (AP) — January 22, 2013 — The first stage of an investigation into how the federal government makes fishing rules has found flaws in record-keeping and financial disclosure by fishery managers.
The report by the Inspector General of the U.S. Commerce Department was released last Wednesday.
The inspector general started the investigation last year after requests from former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and U.S. Rep. John Tierney. The lawmakers say rulemakers had forgotten their mandate to develop and involve the commercial fishing industry.
Among the review’s findings: Financial disclosure by regional managers did little to increase transparency and record-keeping was inconsistent.
It recommended regulators strengthen policies on financial disclosure and develop uniform procedures for managing the records that support decisions. Regulators at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration accepted all the recommendations.
The review is being conducted in phases.
The following is taken from the abstract of the report:
WHAT THE INSPECTOR GENERAL FOUND
Fishery Management Council voting members’ financial disclosures do little to increase transparency and lack effective review. We reviewed 72 publicly available disclosure statement forms for current voting council members and noted more than 20 instances where required information was missing.
NMFS has not fully implemented regulatory streamlining remedies. In 2003, NMFS developed a Regulatory Streamlining Project (RSP) in response to criticisms of the fishery management process from Congress and its constituents (such as fishers). Although NMFS received $2.5 million in its FY 2005 appropriation for the RSP, it has still not been fully implemented.
Maintenance of rules packages and administrative records needs to be consistent.
Record-keeping and file organization are not uniform across NMFS regional offices, which make it difficult for NMFS headquarters to provide oversight.
WHAT THE INSPECTOR GENERAL RECOMMENDS
We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries:
• strengthen policy guidance on financial disclosure by FMC voting members, with emphasis on how NOAA intends to handle specific consequences for conflicts or potential conflicts it identifies;
• strengthen processes for formal reviews of financial interest disclosures, considering the time period that the disclosure covers, how financial interest amounts relate to voting restrictions, and when affiliations with outside organizations should be reported;
• strengthen criteria for identifying conflicts of interest and processes to follow up on any conflicts that are identified;
• finalize draft Operational Guidelines and provide them to NMFS regional offices;
• finalize regional operating agreements between NMFS regional offices and FMCs; and
• develop uniform procedures for the collection, management, and maintenance of documents supporting decisions and administrative records associated with fishery regulations.
View the links to the report documents here
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