U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the latest "bombshell casts NOAA's entire enforcement program into doubt," adding, "There needs to be an immediate halt on the use of forfeiture money until we get to the bottom of this."
In a memo released last week NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said she would not freeze the use of forfeiture money saying "Actions already taken … have corrected some of the fundamental problems … As a consequence, I do not believe freesing the use of the AFF is warranted."
An audit of federal fisheries police that found they misspent millions of dollars collected in fines from fishermen on unauthorized cars, boats and travel evoked outrage from Northport fisherman Tom Kokell Friday.
"It's devastating what they've done to me," said Kokell, who was hit with $65,000 in fines for holding 600 pounds of unauthorized fluke in 2007. In May, he asked that the fine be reduced, to no avail. "You just sit back and say, 'Who are these people?' They're like criminals. Nobody oversees what they do."
Last week, the U.S. Commerce Department 's inspector general released a report saying the fund run by law enforcement officers of the National Marine Fisheries Agency was administered "in a manner that is neither transparent nor conducive to accountability, thus rendering it susceptible to both error and abuse." Among the findings:
The fund was used to buy 202 cars between 2005 and 2009 at a cost of $4.6 million, though rules banned car purchases and there were only 176 officers in the agency.
There was no policy for take-home vehicles, yet an agency director frequently left his car (a Chrysler Pacifica ) at a commuter rail station, and took a train to work free.
Boat purchases also weren't authorized, yet the fund was used to buy 22 vessels at a cost of $2.7 million, including a "luxurious" $300,000 boat with a "beautifully appointed cabin."
Nearly $580,000 was spent on travel by officers to 40 destinations primarily to attend unauthorized conferences, despite a rule that limits travel to enforcement actions.
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