Fixing the culture at NOAA must go beyond personnel changes; there are structural flaws at the law enforcement office that need to be fixed to prevent abuses in the future. In particular, Congress needs to disentangle the fines the agency collects from its budget, so that there will be no suspicion that agents are bounty-hunting simply to make their budget numbers.
Separating the two would underscore that protecting threatened fish stocks, not collecting fines, is the agency’s ultimate metric for success.
Severing the agency’s budget from its fines is especially critical because of the pattern of fiscal mismanagement that also emerged in the Commerce Department’s investigation. Until recently, fines were deposited in what was essentially an NOAA slush fund, which the enforcement office used to purchase hundreds of cars, a luxury boat, and international travel, including a $109,000 junket to Norway. The investigation found no evidence the fund had ever been audited. It had few internal controls. In other words, even as NOAA tormented fishermen with huge fines for small infractions, the enforcement office was not upholding basic auditing standards itself.
In response to the reports, NOAA has enacted new guidelines that forbid spending money collected from fines on vehicles — and limit, but do not ban, overseas trips. Representative John F. Tierney has proposed legislation placing further restrictions on the use of the fund. Ultimately, though, the enforcement office should be funded with a Congressional appropriation, like most other federal agencies. Any fines it collects should go to the Treasury.
At a Senate hearing arranged by Senator Scott Brown last Monday at Faneuil Hall, fishermen complained that their distrust of NOAA agents was so great that they avoid seeking guidance on how to comply with complicated fishing rules. Doing so, they are convinced, would only invite a potentially ruinous inquiry. That dynamic needs to change. NOAA should also discipline agents who commit abuses; an official who testified at the hearing suggested the agency didn’t have that authority to fire officials responsible for the misconduct identified in the investigations. If that’s the case, Congress should grant it to managers, and then accept no excuses if it’s not used.
Read the complete editorial from The Boston Globe.
Read the response to this editorial from Eric Schwaab.