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July 2, 2010

Audit: Millions in fisheries fines misused

By The Mainebiz News Staff

Federal fisheries officials misused millions in fines collected from fishermen by spending it on cars, a luxury boat and a weeklong training seminar in Norway, according to a federal audit.

U.S. Department of Commerce's Inspector General Todd Zinser, who commissioned the audit earlier this year, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's management of penalties collected has been "neither transparent nor conducive to accountability, thus rendering it susceptible to both error and abuse," according to the Associated Press. According to the audit, officials brought in $96 million in fines from fishermen between January 2005 and June 2009 and spent $49 million, spending $2.7 million on 22 boats -- including a $300,000 undercover vessel described by the manufacturer as "luxurious" --and $580,000 for international travel, including $109,000 for a weeklong fisheries training workshop in Norway. Federal law requires the money to be spent only on items necessary for investigations and civil or criminal enforcement, according to the AP.

The audit is the latest in an investigation launched in January following a report criticizing NOAA General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation for its excessive and "unfair" enforcement of fishermen, particularly in the Northeast. In March, a top NOAA official was removed from his post for shredding dozens of files related to the investigation.

NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen told the AP the organization has taken steps to increase oversight of its penalties fund.

Go to the article from the AP >>

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