The federal director of fisheries law enforcement says he doubts the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce will be able to "substantiate" allegations of "vindictive and overzealous" actions by the corps of investigators and lawyers based in Gloucester against fishing industry members.
"We really have nothing to fear," Dale J. Jones, director of enforcement for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, wrote to his national network of NOAA law enforcement officers six days after a trip to Gloucester with two senior NOAA officials and a recent addition to the staff from the Obama Presidential Campaign "for a listening session."
Jones said that, through the visit and the internal memo, he wanted to reassure a staff of "thinning' patience, declining morale and a growing reluctance" to do its duty since the announcement in June by Inspector General Todd Zisner of a national "review of practices" by NOAA law enforcement.
Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.