Saving Seafood requested a copy -- complete or redacted -- of the April 2 report from both NOAA and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).  NOAA indicated they had no objection to releasing it, but stated that as a publication of the OIG, the decision is not theirs.  The OIG advised Saving Seafood that due to privacy concerns, it was their decision not to release the report.

Although redacted, the response indicates a clear link between NOAA actions removing the leadership of the Office of Law Enforcement and the Inspector General's observations and recommendations.  As noted, the Inspector General's April 2 report is not made public, but it is quoted extensively in the response.

Information relevant to document shredding and other matters is also available in a March 26, 2010 letter from NMFS Director Eric Schwaab to Congressman Dennis Kucinich.
 
Although the NOAA response states that "no destruction of agency records before their scheduled retention took place" and that the findings in the Inspector General's report do "not present any issues in relation to any current discovery order or any active litigation hold on NOAA records.", it implies that Mr. Jones was removed from office as a result of the "regulation and policy non-compliance" findings of the OIG.

The OIG stated "Federal law enforcement offices are held to a high standard of conduct. OLE's own disciplinary policy, issued by Director Jones in 2008, states that 'because law enforcement employees occupy positions of special trust and responsibility, they must maintain the highest standards of conduct.'  In our view, the Under Secretary should not have to remind NOAA's senior law enforcement officials of the need to cooperate with OIG and other investigations, and retain all relevant documents and follow records disposition requirements. As OLE's and NOAA's top law enforcement officer, the Director is most accountable for the regulation and policy non-compliance shown by these findings, along with the adverse appearance implicated. Accordingly, we recommend that you consider appropriate administrative action for [redacted].  NOAA responded " On April 8, 2010, the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, Eric Schwaab, announced personnel changes in the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement (OLE). Effective immediately, the Assistant Administrator reassigned the Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, Alan Risenhoover, to serve as the interim Director of OLE. Appropriate further administrative action is now being taken."

The OIG observed that "the only person we spoke to within OLE headquarters who thought to check the rules and regulations on record disposition, prior to the shredding, was a GS-7 equivalent support staff employee."

NOAA determined that "After conducting a thorough review, the NOAA Records Officer, Ms. Pat Erdenberger, in a memo dated May 26, 2010, concluded that no destruction of agency records before their scheduled retention took place and therefore NOAA is not required to notify [the National Archives and Records Administration] ... and "we have no reason to believe the files kept at OLE headquarters and destroyed on November 20, 2009, were records relevant to specific enforcement cases."

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) determined that on November 20, 2009, a mobile destruction company shredded documents received from Director Jones and five other Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) headquarters employees. The OIG determined that Director Jones contributed a majority of the documents shredded. Based on review of information concerning these files as well as the status of cases pending as of November 20, 2009, we have concluded that the findings in the Inspector General's report do "not present any issues in relation to any current discovery order or any active litigation hold on NOAA records." ... [D]ocuments relevant to enforcement matters are generally maintained and held in regional offices of NOAA GC and OLE, and not in OLE headquarters.


NOAA's June 11, 2010 response to Inspector General Todd Zinser's April 2, 2010 report


NMFS Director Eric Schwaab's March 26, 2010 letter to Congressman Dennis Kucinich.