NOAA releases Summit Attendees list; responds to criticisms of the inclusion of NGOs
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NOAA has released the list of attendees for the 2010 NOAA National Enforcement Summit to be held at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza at 14th & K Streets, NW in Washington, DC on August 3rd.
The invited attendees include representatives of Non-Government Organizations which has raised concern among some in industry, and elsewhere, who do not believe that groups or individuals who have not been targets of NOAA enforcement actions should have been included. NOAA responded that it was their aim to "convene a broad array of stakeholders and experts" and noted that "NGOS are an important constituent group who deserve a voice."
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NOAA National Enforcement Summit to be Webcast Live
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A National Enforcement Summit, scheduled for August 3 in Washington, DC, will convene a broad array of invited stakeholders and experts to assist NOAA's leadership in improving compliance with regulations and developing forward-looking strategies to advance its enforcement programs to protect and sustain the nation's marine resources.
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NOAA National Enforcement Summit - August 3, 2010
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NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco has called for a National Enforcement Summit as one component of her response to the Inspector General's Report of January 2010. The Summit will convene a broad array of invited stakeholders and experts to assist NOAA’s leadership in improving compliance with regulations and developing forward-looking strategies to advance its enforcement programs to protect and sustain the nation's marine resources.
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Northeast Fishermen contributed between $800k - $1mil per year to Asset Forfeiture Fund
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Northeast commercial fishermen paid $642,287 in federal fines to NOAA in 2009, and $899,591
in 2008, according to data released by the agency. Before 2009, when the number of investigations declined, northeastern fishermen paid between $800,000 to $1 million annually in fines.
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NOAA law 'summit' under green influence
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GLOUCESTER, Mass. - July 15, 2010 - According to documents obtained by the Gloucester Times, a carefully screened and selected corps of 25 advisors provided taped interviews of recommendations on how to proceed to the public policy mediator hired to organize the conference, planned for Aug. 3 in Washington, D.C.
But the inner circle was heavy with past and present associates of NOAA's high command and representatives of environmental groups — the core constituency of NOAA chief administrator Jane Lubchenco, who came to the government as former board vice chairwoman with the Environmental Defense Fund, and built her organization with people who traveled in the same circles.
Government law enforcement officials are also a well-represented sector in the advisory group.
But missing are any representatives of the Gloucester or New Bedford groundfishing fleet, where the protest emanated against the capricious actions launched from NOAA regional headquarters here.
Not only were active fishermen from the two hub ports left off the advisory panel, but only one industry lawyer, Eldon Greenberg, was named.
Although he is a respected figure, Greenberg has practiced in Washington since leaving NOAA where he had been general counsel, and has not been involved in the bitter legal combat that centered around the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction, sparking calls for the inspector general's intervention early last year.
Neither Stephen Ouellette, Paul Muniz, nor Pamela Lafreniere — attorneys who together represent the bulk of fishermen and industry businesses that have long chafed under the legal battering of NOAA's police force and litigators — were asked to advise the agency how to fix its law enforcement system.
Read this story in the Gloucester Times
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