Saving Seafood

National Archives and Records Administration notice of availability of proposed records schedules; request for comments (electronic monitoring)

August 3, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

NOAA Fisheries is working with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to establish a new retention schedule for the raw imagery and other data collected by Electronic Monitoring systems. This NOAA Fisheries website provides background information, the proposed rule, the link to the NARA website, and the instructions on how to comment. Public comments are due to NARA by September 4, 2020.  Please note, this rule-making differs from the NMFS, West Coast Region’s Electronic Monitoring Program EM data retention policy.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Brett Wiedoff at 503-820-2424; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

NOAA Officials May Be Deleting Their G-Chats

July 6, 2017 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) might illegally be destroying records of a recent meeting discussing new regulations against the fishing industry, according to a conservative legal group in Washington, D.C.

Cause of Action Institute (CoA) filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the NOAA to obtain communications during a New England Fishery Management Council meeting hashing out new rules foisted upon the country’s fishing industry. The group believes the agency is deleting Skype and Google Chat conversations that took place during the April meeting.

The NOAA General Counsel considers communications through Google Chat to be off the record and will not be recorded anyway, according to a 2012 handbook guide CoA obtained. CoA disputed the agency’s claim, and pointed to provisions within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

The NARA, which maintains government records, states that any communications created on NOAA’s Gmail interface qualify under the Federal Records Act. CoA Institute requested e-mails, instant messaging, Google chat messages, text messages, and any Skype messages NOAA employees sent during the April 18–20, 2017 NEFMC meetings.

Read the full story at The Daily Caller