U.S. Sen. Scott Brown's reference Friday to seeking an "independent investigation" into potential criminal wrongdoing on the part of NOAA fisheries agents has resurrected a call by a number of fishing activists, officials and Gloucester lawmakers.
Reacting to the news that federal Commerce Secretary Gary Locke had put new written clamps on an investigation by a "special master" into cases of wrongdoing on the part of federal enforcers and prosecutors — as documented by an Inspector General's report — Brown said Friday it may be time to look toward another level of investigation into what many industry activists allege to have been criminal conduct by agents and enforcers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A Department of Commerce Inspector General's report — spawned largely from an investigation launched in Gloucester and New England — found widespread excessive enforcement by NOAA officials, who socked fishermen and businesses in the Northeast with fines of up to 500 percent higher than those meted out in other parts of the country, and carried out abusive tactics in pressing an alleged violation case against the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction.
Fishery supporters and lawmakers have been pressing to get NOAA, which falls under the Department of Commerce, to revisit back cases that dealt a number of New England fishermen excessive penalties — paid into NOAA enforcement's so-called Asset Forfeiture Fund, which agents in turn used for such expenses as foreign travel and acquiring cars and a "luxury" boat.
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