Barney Frank Criticizes Overly Aggressive Enforcement of Fishing Regulations in Testimony Before Two Congressional Hearings.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank today called for Dale Jones, Director of Law Enforcement for the division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA) which oversees fishing, to step down from his position.
This follows the revelation by the Inspector General that Jones had shredded documents while under investigation by the IG for conducting overly aggressive, unfair, and poorly-managed law enforcement operations.
“After reviewing the Inspector General’s report I was already convinced that the question of Mr. Jones’ tenure needed to be thoroughly discussed. This later revelation now makes it clear that he should leave. Fair fishing law enforcement is essential and people in the fishing industry cannot be expected to have confidence in the law enforcement process supervised by someone who has behaved in this way.”
Frank’s statement follows a week in which he testified twice before Congressional Committees having oversight of agencies which oversee the fishing industry. In both hearings, Frank criticized NOAA for placing unnecessary and disproportionate financial penalties on the fishing industry.
“It is clear that the approach has been unduly adversarial,” Frank told the Committee. Frank said that “the overwhelming majority of violations come when a very complex set of regulations are imposed on very hard-working people, who don’t always get to dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t.’ Clear lines can be painted on the highway, but they don’t work as well on the ocean.”
“Treating fishermen as if they were criminal in every case is clearly wrong – and there has been an excess of that.”
Frank, who as Chairman of the Financial Services Committee recently passed major legislation to increase regulation of financial institutions, stated at the hearing that he wished there was less strict enforcement of fishing rules and more strict enforcement of regulations over Wall Street. “I don’t want to put people out of work,” Frank said, “so I suggest that some of the excess law enforcement at the National Marine Fisheries Service be sent over the Securities and Exchange Commission, which appears to be underenforced. Maybe we can get a balance.”
Subcommittee Chairwoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam) and Subcommittee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) presided over the hearing. In addition to Congressman Frank, Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) and Congressman Walter Jones (R-VA) also testified.
On Tuesday, Frank appeared before an official field hearing held in Gloucester, Massachusetts on fisheries enforcement programs by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which has been criticized by New England fishermen for overly aggressive enforcement of current regulations. The hearing was held by the Domestic Policy Subcommitee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which assembled witnesses to discuss the recommendations of the Department of Commerce Inspector General report entitled "Review of NOAA Fisheries Enforcement Programs and Operations."
Congressman Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, canceled an important committee hearing in order to attend the Gloucester meeting.
"This hearing was a very important step, but only a first step in making basic changes in fishing rules that are currently in place," added Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA). "It is important we push for fairness in enforcement while attempting to amend Magnuson because until we get flexibility in the law, enforcement will always be a problem."
Other witnesses included Inspector General Todd Zinser, who presented the Department of Commerce Report. Also appearing was Dr. Lubchenko, Administrator of NOAA, whom Congressman Frank has criticized for inflexible and overly aggressive enforcement of fishing regulations. Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) and Congressman Walter Jones (R-VA) also testified. In the second session, local fishermen and fishing community leaders relayed personal stories about NOAA’s enforcement programs.
Frank’s comments before the committee echoed those he made at a rally of several hundred fishermen in Washington last week. At the time, he told the crowd “I wish, because I am on the Financial Services Committee, that the federal government had treated some of the people in the financial industry as harshly as the NMFS [the National Marine Fisheries Service] has treated fisherman. They got it backwards. They have it absolutely backwards.”