WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) August 17, 2012 — In a report issued on August 16 to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, NOAA concluded that the potential costs of relocating its Northeast Regional Office (NERO) in Gloucester to the Washington, DC area would outweigh the potential benefits. In addition to costing more than retaining the headquarters from Gloucester, the report finds, “the relocation of NERO to the Washington, DC, capital region from the location it has held for over 130 years, would have a negative impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of the functions and services provided by NERO.”
Relocating the NERO office to the Washington, DC area would improve communications and operations with NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring, MD, and Mid-Atlantic-based fisheries, but at the expense of making operations in New England less effective, according to the report. If NERO were operating out of Washington, the report finds that Mid-Atlantic state governments and fishermen would have easier access to NERO staff and services, and that relocation to the area, “would afford the opportunity for frequent personal contact between NERO and NMFS [National Marine Fisheries Service] headquarters leadership.” Similarly, it finds that NERO field offices in the region would benefit from easier internal communications with NERO headquarters, and the relocation would allow for better coordination with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) in Delaware.
However, the report also finds, “for members of the fishing industry in the New England portion of the region, the move would complicate access to NERO.” The New England region accounts for 72 percent of the fishing vessels, 63 percent of the dealers, and 66 percent of the operators under NERO’s jurisdiction, and the report notes, “at its current location, NERO is accessible to many members of the fishing industry and many walk-in services are provided.” The report concludes that moving the headquarters from Gloucester would make communications between NERO and its New England field offices and staff more difficult, and that, “responsiveness to their respective states and constituencies may be affected.” The move would also impair work and communications with the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC), which the report finds “frequently necessitate face-to-face interactions.”
The report found that keeping the office in Gloucester would cost the government the least amount of money. In 2008, NMFS signed a lease for a new building in Gloucester to house NERO, costing 1.8 million dollars per year. This lease is not set to expire until September 2023, and terminating the lease prior to this date would force the government to either agree to the negotiated terms of vacating the premises, or pay the rent for the remainder of the lease.
A financial outline of all relocation scenarios is provided in the report. It gives a detailed breakdown of the total cost of moving the office to the Washington, DC area within the next three years (with the lease buy-out or the remaining payments), remaining at status quo, or moving the office when the Gloucester lease expires in 2023. This financial analysis shows that between the moving costs, change of station costs, recruitment costs, new building costs, and the lease on the Gloucester building, keeping the building in Gloucester is the best option financially. The report states, “a minimum 21 million dollar investment would be needed to relocate the office in the first year, and the costs in the out years would be higher under any relocation scenario, than under the status quo.”