NEW BEDFORD — NOAA is revamping its fishery enforcement methods after a scathing report by the Commerce Department's inspector general, but the agency is not revisiting past cases for prosecutorial abuse, NOAA chief counsel Lois Schiffer told The Standard-Times Thursday.
Perhaps the biggest change was announced by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Jane Lubchenco in a press release: In cases before an administrative law judge, the burden of proof in cases of alleged fishery lawbreaking will shift away from the alleged violator and to the government.
The change does not affect catch seizures, which NOAA must justify in federal court, NOAA spokeswoman Monica Allen said.
The proposed change was published in Thursday's Federal Register and will not take effect until after a comment period. But Schiffer said that, in practice, the shift in the burden of the argument will happen now, with pending cases.
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Dr. Lubchenco’s report to the Inspector General is available online