A National Oceanic and Atmospheric "criminal investigator" tied to the NOAA law enforcement's notorious push against the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction is being reassigned to the enforcement office out of New Bedford.
And that city's mayor is outraged, calling the move "ill-advised," "uninformed," "insensitive" and "retaliatory."
Mayor Scott Lang's remarks, made to the Standard-Times of New Bedford and reported through the industry news site SavingsSeafood.com, come on the heels of reports last week that Susan Williams, a criminal investigator in the NOAA's Boston/Chelsea fisheries law enforcement office is in the process of being reassigned to the agency's New Bedford office, according to several sources inside and outside NOAA.
Williams played a role in an infamous prosecution of the Gloucester Auction, which, at one point, included an authorized entry by NOAA agents into the auction as documented by Gloucester police, and excessive tactics that sparked an investigation and damning report from the Department of Commerce's Inspector General's office.
However, repeated decisions now to transfer rather than fire employees involved in the abuses โ including ousted NOAA police chief Dale Jones and formerly Gloucester-based NOAA prosecutor Charles Juliand โ has caused the fishing industry to doubt Lubchenco's and other Obama administration officials' commitment in reforming the agency, and has raised the wrath of both Republican and Democratic members of Congress who represent coastal communities from Maine to North Carolina. The cities of Gloucester and New Bedford, the nation's oldest and highest-value oldest seaports, respectively, are also currently suing Lubchenco and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke for the agency's implementation of the Obama administration's "catch share" fisheries management policy, which pushes for further consolidation of the New England groundfish fleet into the hands of the largest and wealthiest vessel owners, causing unemployment, and wreaking economic havoc in the two cities. The word that Williams is in line for reassignment to New Bedford, Lang indicated, only raises further questions regarding Lubchenco's giving serious attention to the growing NOAA enforcement scandal.
Read the complete story from the Gloucester Times.