Kirk said last night that, in Lang's latest call for a full federal probe, "the city of Gloucester stands with New Bedford."
"During the course of the past year or so, certainly enough questions have been raised of a serious nature that warrants this type of investigation," Kirk added.
In a letter to federal Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser, Lang stated that a "lack of fair play and transparency coupled with use of stale science in the development of fisheries management has caused profound and adverse socio-economic impacts that are crippling fishing communities."
"It is paramount that rules and regulations that impact the livelihood of fishing communities be implemented in an open and transparent manner," Lang wrote. "Such is not the case today and fishing communities are collapsing as a consequence."
The mayor noted that, since the release of the "scathing" January 2010 report by IG Zinser's office on the NOAA General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation and Office of Law Enforcement, it has been discovered that — among other concerns — the Office of General Counsel paid administrative law judges out of Asset Forfeiture Funds, which are drawn from the fines assessed and paid by fishermen, and that fishermen were intimidated into settlements.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Daily Times.