The New England fishing industry has been given a new window to appeal improper treatment at the hands of the scandalized federal fisheries law enforcement and litigating units, after a Wednesday announcement by federal Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
Locke was joined in a teleconference Wednesday by NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco to announce expanded opportunities for victims of miscarriages of federal fisheries justice, and a renewed effort to understand what happened to the Asset Forfeiture Fund.
Locke also announced a cohort of related reforms of the system by which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has enforced the Magnuson-Stevens Act and regulated the fisheries.
Those include granting an investigative "special master," hired by Locke last fall to review the most egregious cases uncovered by an inspector general's probe, authority to suspend penalties pending the expected completion of his charge next month, and ordering a regulatory overhaul to simplify the process.
Locke also said he would deploy "economic development and assessment teams to … select New England communities" to bolster local economies.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.