Enforcement

May 17, 2011 – U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced today that $649,527 in fisheries enforcement penalties will be returned to 11 individuals or businesses after an independent review of their cases concluded the NOAA enforcement program had in some instances “overstepped the bounds of propriety and fairness.” In his decision memo issued today, Secretary Locke acted on 30 cases reviewed by the Special Master, Judge Charles Swartwood III, accepting all of his recommendations that the law allows and taking additional actions in several cases. Secretary Locke appointed Judge Swartwood to conduct the independent review of cases identified by the Department of Commerce’s Inspector General as problematic. The individuals and businesses will receive their remittances within 30 days of receipt of payment information.

“As a former prosecutor, I expect our entire law enforcement program to uphold high standards and maintain the public’s trust. Enforcement has to be fair, uniform and consistent. I accepted all of the Special Master's recommendations in every instance where I have authority to do so under Magnuson-Stevens Act, and in some cases I went beyond the Special Master’s recommendation,” said Secretary Locke. “In addition, we are implementing additional reforms to make regulations and enforcement more fair and effective. We inherited this decades-old problem, but it’s ending on my watch.”

Among the businesses and fishermen who will receive returned penalties are the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction ($16,515) and former New Bedford sea scallop fisherman Lawrence Yacubian ($400,000), whose cases date back to the early 2000s. During the period of time associated with the 30 reviewed cases, NOAA investigated over 40,000 incidents and issued penalties or sanctions in about 6,000 cases. Judge Swartwood is currently reviewing approximately 80 additional applications that were received during a recent application period. The applications that meet the standards set forth in Secretary Locke’s March 2011 Decision Memorandum will receive further review.

“Today we acknowledge and rectify past mistakes, apologize to the fishermen and businesses hurt by these mistakes, and rededicate ourselves to work with the fishing industry to sustain and grow fishing jobs,” said Dr. Jane Lubchenco, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator, who traveled to Gloucester to meet with affected fishermen and with NOAA enforcement staff in the region. “Since coming into office two years ago, I made reform of our fisheries enforcement program a top priority. I believe today marks a major turning point in NOAA’s relationship with America’s fishermen, and in particular fishermen in New England.”

In June 2009, after hearing concerns from fishermen, businesses and elected officials, Dr. Lubchenco asked the Department of Commerce Inspector General to conduct a national review of NOAA’s enforcement program. Based on this review and other findings, Secretary Locke and Dr. Lubchenco instituted sweeping changes in its enforcement program, including:

-New enforcement leadership at headquarters and in the New England regional office;

-Transfer of authority to issue charges and settle cases from the field staff to supervisors in headquarters; 

-A more transparent penalty policy to give greater clarity for the regulated community;

-A revision of regulations to place the burden on NOAA to justify its proposed penalty and permit sanctions in hearings before Administrative Law Judges;

-An Asset Forfeiture Fund Use Policy that greatly restricts the uses of the fund in order to ensure there is no conflict of interest, real or perceived, with the use of the fund; and

-Management and personnel changes that emphasize compliance over punishment, including the hiring of a former fishermen as compliance liaison in New England.

 

For a complete list of NOAA enforcement reforms instituted over the past two years, click here.

 

In response to Judge Swartwood’s report, Secretary Locke and Dr. Lubchenco announce that in addition to returning penalties, NOAA would take the following actions: 

-Work with fishery management councils nationwide to simplify and streamline regulations;

-Work with all the regional fishery management councils to simplify fishery management regulations and provide routine training for the fishing industry and other stakeholders on regulatory compliance;

-Require all enforcement personnel and enforcement attorneys to attend annual professional and ethics training to ensure they follow fair, effective and professional procedures;

-Expand the compliance liaison program nationwide to assist fishermen at the waterfront better understand and have stronger incentives to comply with regulations;

-Reinforce current strict guidelines to limit communications between NOAA staff and administrative law judges to ensure there is no conflict of interest, real or perceived; and

-Finalize a workforce analysis to more appropriately balance the number of enforcement officers and special agents to more effectively communicate with the industry and match its enforcement needs.

 

“By reducing penalties, I want to make it clear that fisheries enforcement serves fisheries, fishermen, and fishing communities,” said Secretary Locke. “The primary goal of the enforcement program is to increase compliance with the regulations necessary to ensure our fisheries are sustainable. NOAA should strongly enforce marine resource laws, and act prudently to serve those whose livelihoods depend on the marine resources these laws protect. NOAA has worked to refocus its fisheries management, enforcement and compliance programs consistent with these goals. Today’s decision is one more step in that process.”

 

Read the Special Master's Report

 

Read coverage in the Gloucester Times by Richard Gaines

Read the Commerce Dept./NOAA press release

Read the decision memo

See a list of the enforcement reforms.

See a timeline of enforcement actions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke will hold a media availability today to announce his decisions on the report by Special Master Charles W. Swartwood III. NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco will join the secretary for the announcement to provide details about how NOAA will put in place these decisions.

WHAT: Phone press availability
 
WHO: Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce, Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator
 
WHEN: Tuesday, May 17, 1:45 – 2:15 p.m. EDT
 
CALL-IN INFO: Please contact Scott Smullen or Jennifer Austin at 202-482-6090 for call-in information.
 
BACKGROUND: On Sept. 23, 2010, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke appointed the Honorable Charles B. Swartwood III, a retired judge and former Chief Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, and current chairman of the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission, to serve as special master to review enforcement cases that the Commerce Department’s Inspector General identified as problematic, some dating as far back as the early 2000s. NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco requested the IG review of law enforcement in 2009. Dr. Lubchenco has made reforming the law enforcement program to ensure a fair, effective and transparent program a top priority.
 
A press release, Secretary Locke’s decision memo, and the Special Master report will be posted later today at www.noaa.gov

 

 

 

May 17, 2011 – Trying to make amends with the fishing industry, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco each issued apologies today to those "who were wronged" by excessive enforcement actions, and announced decisions to return $649,527 to 11 individuals and businesses as recommended by an investigative special master, Charles Swartwood III.

In a tele-news conference with Lubchenco in Gloucester and Locke at an unstated location, each expressed hope that the action would mark a new era leading to trust between the government and the commercial fishing industry.

But in responding to questions, Locke implicitly conceded that no one who had violated the rights of the fishing industry people had been or was going to be sanctioned or punished — even those who spent years conducting countless operations against the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction including attempted entrapment, and others the investigation found were improper and excessive.

Acting on Swartwood's recommendations, Locke remitted or voided fines levied against fishermen for failing to have a "yellowtail authorization letter" which had little regulatory significance, but gave the agents to leverage to press — unsuccessfully — for evidence or testimony against the auction. 

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) May 17, 2011 — Approximately 30 days ago, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke received Special Master Charles Swartwood's report on law enforcement cases reviewed by the Office of the Inspector General. 

Later today Secretary Locke will make an announcement on his response to the Special Master's report. 

Also today, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco and NMFS Director Eric Schwaab will be in Gloucester, Massachusetts to discuss these changes with NOAA employees and the fishing community. 

According to a Commerce Department e-mail to Congressional staff, the Secretary's decisions are "part of a top-to-bottom review of NOAA's enforcement program and sweeping reforms begun nearly two years ago."

At 1:15 p.m. today, prior to the public announcement, Congressional staff will be briefed,  and will receive hardcopies of the report and other documents related to the Secretary's announcement.

The Congressional briefing will be conducted by Cam Kerry, General Counsel of the Commerce Department; April Boyd, Assistant Commerce Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, and Monica Medina, Principal Deputy Commerce Under Secretary for NOAA.

 

 

GLOUCESTER, Mass. – May 17, 2011 – U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is expected to deploy subordinates to Gloucester today for a series of private meetings culminating in the public release his report on a special master's study of the most egregious cases of abuse of the badge against the fishing industry, according to indications swirling Monday from here and New Bedford to Washington, D.C.

Details of the planned operation, a diplomatic mission with high stakes for the cabinet official who has been nominated by President Obama to be U.S. ambassador to China, were a closely held secret Monday night.

Administration sources told the Times Monday evening a decision to bring the findings to the public had not been finalized.

Congressional pressure built last week for a full airing of the final report by master, Charles Swartwood III.

The delegation wrote to Locke that they wanted it public by last Sunday.

Mayor Carolyn Kirk and the congressional delegation, including Gloucester's congressman, John Tierney, were kept in the dark.

But the report by Locke is expected to include restitution, a form or reparations — a rare step in U.S. jurisprudence reserved for the most extreme perversions of the justice system involving violations of civil rights or physical harm.

Underlings' initial plan to move on without attending to the harm caused in the past was reversed by Locke.

NOAA representatives declined to confirm that action on the report by Swartwood, a retired federal judge and the current chairman of the Massachusetts Ethics Commission, was imminent.

"I am still not able to confirm the release date of the secretary's decisions on Judge Swartwood's report," Justin Kenney said in an email message late Monday.

Read the complete report in the Gloucester Times

NEW BEDFORD — Two congressmen from Massachusetts have joined the state's two senators in giving Commerce Secretary Gary Locke three days to make public the preliminary report of the special master appointed to review law enforcement abuses in the Northeast fishery.

In a joint letter to Locke, Democratic Sen. John Kerry, Republican Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic Reps. Barney Frank and John Tierney were emphatic about their wishes: "After years of malfeasance, our fishermen deserve to know the recommendations of an independent third-party review in order to finally achieve some semblance of closure."

The letter reminded Locke of the file-shredding, excessive fines and vindictive law enforcement that brought about his decision to hire retired judge Charles Swartwood as special master. But since Swartwood filed his report nearly a month ago, Commerce has refused every request to release it under the Freedom of Information Act.

"New England fishermen have waited long enough to know whether or not they are entitled to restitution for the outrageous and unfair treatment by NOAA officials," they wrote.

Read the complete story from The South Coast Today.

 

 

 

 

 

A bipartisan group of Massachusetts lawmakers have written to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke asking that he release Special Master Charles B. Swartwood's report on enforcement abuses against northeast fishermen.  The letter, circulated by Senator Scott Brown was also signed by Senator John Kerry together with Congressmen Barney Frank and John Tierney.

The letter asks the Secretary to release the Special Master report to the public on May 15, 2011 regardless of whether or not he considers his review complete.

The text of the letter follows:

We write to you today to implore you to publicly release the report of Special Master Charles B. Swartwood on enforcement abuses in the New England fishery. After years of malfeasance, our fishermen deserve to know the recommendations of an independent, third party review in order to finally achieve some semblance of closure.

The Department of Commerce Inspector General's series of audit reports brought to light the high-level misuse of funds, inappropriate document shredding during an active investigation, and the deliberate targeting and fining of New England Fishermen. We commend the appointment of Judge Charles Swartwood as Special Master to review the cases highlighted by the Inspector General. We are also glad that you opened up the Special Master's review process to cases outside of the Inspector General's report after your earlier denial. We have no doubt that the Special Master's review was thorough and careful and these actions have started to mend the broken relationship between NOAA and New England fishermen.

However, we are now approaching thirty days since Special Master Swartwood transmitted his report to you. New England fishermen have waited long enough to know whether or not they are entitled to restitution for the outrageous and unfair treatment by NOAA officials. While we understand your need to review the sensitive information contained in the report, we respectfully request that you release the Special Master report to the public on May 15, 2011, regardless of whether or not you consider your review complete. Thirty days is an acceptable amount of time to review this information and it is essential to maintaining transparency in fisheries law enforcement.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent request. We await your reply.

Read the letter to Secretary Locke.

 

 

 

 

 

A new federal requirement that dockside monitors board fishing boats and enter the holds of vessels after the unload to root out any unreported fish has come under fire from U.S. Sen John Kerry, the Northeast Seafood Coalition — and even the New England text-Fishery Management Council, which wrote in the requirement last November.

The mandate is part of the second-year rules within Amendment 16, the groundfishery regimen that includes the new catch share management regimen,

Although the council put the new requirement in place, its members vote overwhelmingly at the panel's April meeting to urge the National Marine Fisheries Service negate the action after an impassioned argument by Councilor David Goethel, a commercial fisherman who is recovering from a near-fatal dockside accident.

Goethel argued that the task would lead to serious injuries for monitors, who typically are not commercial fishermen but are hired by the monitoring companies for their ability to count fish.

A spokeswoman for NMFS Administrator Eric Schwaab, meanwhile, said "a response was being prepared" to a letter from Kerry.

The new duties of the monitors were recommended by "enforcement personnel," according to the official text of Framework 45, the set of amendments to the landmark catch share regulatory scheme that encourages fishermen to buy, sell or trade their shares of an assigned "catch," either among themselves or, as has proven the case, to larger companies and investors.

Kerry wrote to Schwaab last month to express his concerns about giving monitors, employees of outsourced contractors, the responsibility of entering the holds of commercial fishing boats.

He wrote that the new assignment was dangerous, and would expose the boat owners to new liabilities "and insurance issues that necessarily flow from such injuries." Moreover, Kerry wrote, the work "has previously fallen squarely within the purview of the Office of Law Enforcement."

Kerry questioned the propriety of assigning monitors to do law enforcement work, and wrote, "It is my understanding that this proposal will not result in the collection of any data that will be used to improve fisheries management."

"Instead," he wrote, "it is solely aimed at ensuring that all of the fish has been removed from the vessel."

The Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition also critiqued NMFS for requiring monitors to go looking for fish in the holds.

The coalition, the largest industry organization in the region "strongly rejects" the economic impact analysis for the action, which presumed the monitoring service companies liability insurance would be sufficient to cover injuries.

"The reference insurance coverage will not protect individual vessel owners from civil actions taken by family members of a dockside monitor that may be injured in the course of inspecting a vessel," the coalition said in a prepared statement. "Vessels wishing to protect themselves against such civil actions will be required to either purchase new coverage or increased coverage at significant cost in increased premiums."

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.

Read the letter to Eric Schwaab from Senator Kerry.

Read the letter from Paul Howard, Executive Director of the NEFMC, to Pat Kurkul regarding the dockside monitors.

Read the email to Eric Schwaab from Maggie Raymond of Associated Fisheries of Maine and Jackie Odell of the Northeast Seafood Coalition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP – May 6, 2011 – New Jersey is defending hefty fines that can be imposed against saltwater anglers who do not register to fish.

At a Thursday meeting of the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council held at the Galloway Township branch of the Atlantic County Library, David Chanda, of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said the federal government pushed for the fines.

The state registry for saltwater anglers, required by a 2006 federal law, went into place this week.

Registration is free — but anglers caught fishing without a registration card face fines of $300 to $3,000 for a first offense and $500 to $5,000 for subsequent offenses. Fishing groups argue that the fines are excessive. The New Gretna-based Recreational Fishing Alliance said it is complaining directly to the Governor’s Office.

Read the complete story from Press of Atlantic City.

 

 

 

 

 

NRP officers say they found 3.3 tons of dead, decaying striped bass near Tilghman Island

About 3.3 tons of dead and decaying striped bass were recovered by Natural Resources Police Tuesday from an illegal net submerged in the waters off Tilghman Island. It was the second largest seizure of poached fish this year.

The net, the 10th seized since Feb. 1, was found on Sunday by a recreational fisherman whose lines became fouled in the tangle of mesh and fish. Police believe it had been in the water since the beginning of the year.

Read the complete story from The Baltimore Sun.