Saving Seafood

NOAA Training Aims To Stop Illegal Fishing within U.S. territories and International Waters

August 24, 2016 — In June the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) entered into force globally, marking a major milestone in the effort to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. To maximize the effectiveness of the PSMA, broad implementation is critical and international capacity building has become of the utmost importance. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) stepped up to ensure domestic implementation of the operational provisions went forward as quickly as possible. The Office of Law Enforcement has also begun the important task of working with international partners on training and implementation as well.

NOAA has responsibility for enforcing marine resource laws of the United States and is the lead agency for enforcement of the PSMA. The Office of Law Enforcement was also tasked with providing technical assistance to other countries for the PSMA, under the President’s Task Force. So, they went to work on an implementation plan, as well as creating training modules for state, territorial, and international partners. Before the training was initiated in the U.S. territories, there was a three-day conference with staff from OLE headquarters, national training team and Pacific Island Division. In this meeting, national level training materials were refined and tailored to the specific needs of the Pacific Island Region as well as reviewed to ensure the modules were comprehensive, but as simple as possible.

“We wanted to make sure that the training material is easy to understand, yet covers all areas necessary to meet PSMA requirements,” said Deputy Special Agent in Charge Martina Sagapolu of OLE-PID. “We knew the implementation of PSMA will directly impact American Samoa because this is the main U.S. port where the foreign fleet delivers its catch daily. The (Pago Pago) port sees all sizes of FFV and the inspection process under PSMA is arduous. Ensuring the training material was simple yet straightforward is critical for our partners.”

After the conference, training commenced — first with American Samoa, then Guam.

“The training was extremely beneficial to all involved,” said Special Agent Todd Dubois, Assistant Director of Operations for the Office of Law Enforcement. “The American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources officers that participated in the workshop were very receptive to the implementation training. There were numerous discussions that highlighted the importance of information sharing, collaborative enforcement efforts and thorough vessel inspections to further promote PSMA compliance and combat IUU fishing.”

Read the full story at the U.S. State Department

American Samoa Key To Combatting ‘Illegal, Unreported, And Unregulated’ Fishing

August 18, 2016 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — With the United States a signatory to an international agreement to combat IUU — illegal, unreported, and unregulated — fishing, American Samoa, home to two canneries and many fishing vessels, is now part of the agreement, which went into force on June 5 this year.

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Port State Measures Agreement does not solely focus on IUU fishing vessels, but also requires action against vessels that engage in supportive activities such as refueling or transshipping fish from IUU fishing vessels at sea.

Adopted in 2009 by the UN Fish and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Agreement identifies measures to block the entry from ports of IUU-caught fish into national and international markets.

For the US, the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement (NOAA-OLE) is charged with enforcing the Agreement, which according to the federal agency, applies to foreign flagged fishing vessels carrying fish that have not been previously landed in a port.

Under other U.S. law (Nicholson Act), foreign flagged vessels cannot land these fish/fish products in U.S. ports, with the exception of ports within U.S. territories. Because of this, the most significant impact will be seen in the US territories of American Samoa and Guam.

“The… Agreement is the most significant legislation passed in nearly 40 years and American Samoa is at the center of this effort,” NOAA-OLE special agent Murray Bauer told Samoa News yesterday.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

New Faces on the Docks: NOAA Hires Uniformed Enforcement Officers

January 5, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

This year NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement in the Northeast Division hired seven new uniformed enforcement officers in an effort to increase patrol presence with a focus on compliance assistance and education.

“OLE will continue to bolster its enforcement officer staff across the country over the next several years,” said OLE Deputy Director Logan Gregory. “Fair and effective law enforcement is critical toward protecting the commercial and recreational fishing industries, and the sustainability of our living marine resources.”

OLE’s sworn personnel are comprised of enforcement officers and special agents, each with their own distinct roles.

Enforcement officers focus on improving compliance via face-to-face interactions with industry. Through patrols enforcement officers increase NOAA’s presence, provide information about regulations directly to the fishing industry, and at-sea enforcement in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard and state partners. Enforcement officers focus on directly engaging with fishermen to help ensure they understand fishing regulations. Additionally, EOs handle patrol-level investigations such as landing fish in excess of possession limits or prohibited and undersized species, fishing in closed areas, illegal fishing gear and reporting issues.

 

Special agents conduct more complex and long term investigations in area such as illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, fraudulent mislabeling of seafood, smuggling or trafficking of threatened or endangered marine animal parts such as sperm whale teeth; and the intentional harm or attempt to harm protected marine animals such as whales, seals, and turtles.

With the area of responsibility spanning more than 3 million square miles of ocean, 85,000 miles of U.S. coastline, 13 National Marine Sanctuaries, and four Marine National Monuments, OLE has an extensive mission. OLE’s Northeast Division expects to hire and train seven additional enforcement officers in 2016. This strategic shift in staffing will increase the visibility of OLE’s programs and provide greater outreach, emphasizing prevention of unintentional violations, and education as a means to improve voluntary compliance.

“Most fishermen and seafood dealers are honest, hardworking individuals, with difficult jobs in a highly regulated industry,” said Gregory. “We are committed to helping them understand the regulations they must abide by. Increasing our patrol presence will strengthen our ability to ensure compliance assistance and education is available, while helping to ensure a level playing field for the industry.”

Meet the New Enforcement Officers

Eric Provencher, Lieutenant, North East Supervisory Enforcement Officer

Lt. Provencher began his law enforcement career in 1996 with the National Park Service, where he last served as the Deputy Chief Ranger at Delaware Water Gap before joining OLE.

Jason Berthiaume, Enforcement Officer, Gloucester, MA

Before graduating the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 2005, Officer Berthiaume realized his interest in marine law enforcement and quickly began his career as a Fisheries Observer. From there he was hired as a Marine Patrol Officer for the state of Maine where he worked closely with the lobster industry in Stonington and other local ports. In 2009 Berthiaume transitioned to the NOAA Sustainable Fisheries Division, where he was involved with policy and regulatory development. This year he joined OLE for the face-to-face interactions with local fishermen and opportunity to help the industry navigate and comply with the complex regulations in the Northeast.

Kevin Swiechowicz, Enforcement Officer, New Bedford, MA

After completing a degree in wildlife conservation at the University of Massachusetts Officer Swiechowicz became a Wildlife Inspector for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This position afforded him the opportunity to work alongside USFWS Agents who were regulating the international and interstate trade in wildlife products. Swiechowicz became involved with investigations covering topics from sport hunted trophies originating in Zimbabwe to smuggled corals from Indonesia. Swiechowicz made the jump to OLE to assist in leveling the playing field for all industry partners.

Mark Kerr, Enforcement Officer, Portland, ME

Officer Kerr began his law enforcement career with the National Park Service in 1995, working as a Ranger at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park in West Virginia and Catoctin Mountain Park in Thurmont, Md.  Kerr served in law enforcement positions at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells, Maine, and Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Newburyport, Mass. Through these positions, Mark gained experience and expertise in wildlife law enforcement, while cooperatively working with state and local entities in the conservation field.  Kerr saw the opportunity to join OLE as a way concentrate on the preservation of marine environment.

Wynn Carney, Lieutenant, Mid-Atlantic Supervisory Enforcement Officer

Lt. Carney holds an undergraduate degree in criminal justice and a graduate degree in public administration from Georgia Southern University. He began his law enforcement career 15 years ago and has served as a Game Warden, a municipal police officer, a special agent, and Park Ranger.

Conservation of the nation’s fisheries has been a primary focus of Carney’s law enforcement career. He considers fisheries conservation to be one of his passions and views his career as much more than just a job. Carney believes his role in keeping marine resources healthy and sustainable for future generations is of the utmost importance.

Jed Fiske, Enforcement Officer, Wall, NJ

Officer Fiske graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a B.S. in Recreation Management and Policy, and a Minor in Environmental Conservation. Since graduating, he has worked as a law enforcement officer for the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as regulatory enforcement for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Fiske takes pride in being able to protect our nation’s natural resources and looks forward to learning more about the commercial fishing industry.

John Ford, Enforcement Officer, Newport News, VA

Before being hired as an Enforcement Officer, Officer Ford began his career with NOAA in 2009 working on OLE’s Cooperative Enforcement Program. In his new role, Ford hopes to improve working relationships between the fishing community and marine conservation. He enjoys the opportunity to be a part of the natural resource management partnership to ensure fishing opportunities for future generations.

Read the full story from NOAA

Atlantic Striped Bass Fishing in the EEZ: Restrictions Support Sustainability of Species

November 12, 2015 — The following was released by the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement:

In an effort to ensure the healthy population of the striped bass in the Mid-Atlantic region, NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) is raising awareness of the federal regulations governing striped bass in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and increasing targeted enforcement efforts to protect the species from illegal poaching activities.

“Right now, the striped bass are beginning to migrate south from the northern states,” said Lt. Wynn Carney, OLE supervisory enforcement officer. “The striped bass will follow the bait south near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and in spring they will begin making their way up our streams and rivers to lay eggs.” 

According to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, overfishing and poor environmental conditions lead to the collapse of the Atlantic striped bass fishery in the 1980s.

In order to ensure the sustainability of the species, the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act, found in Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations part 697.7, was promulgated. Thus, during the months of November through February, NOAA Office of Law Enforcement is joining state and federal marine law enforcement organizations in supporting a focused enforcement effort, targeting vessels retaining and fishing for striped bass in the EEZ. Marine law enforcement officers, including OLE and the U.S. Coast Guard, in the Mid-Atlantic will be ticketing fishermen who violate these regulations and who target striped bass within the EEZ.

“I am excited about the Mid-Atlantic States conducting a focused enforcement effort,” said Carney. “It’s significant that we’re working together toward a common goal.”

For maximum enforcement, officers will be conducting at-sea, aerial, and dock-side inspections.

For more information, call your local OLE field office or visit http://www.asmfc.org/species/atlantic-striped-bass.

Southeastern Fisheries Association Criticizes New Asset Forfeiture Fund policy

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – August 14, 2015 — On August 9, 2015, Bob Jones, Executive Director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association, wrote to the National Marine Fisheries Service urging the agency to reexamine its updated Asset Forfeiture Fund (AFF) policy. The letter questioned the transparency and the effectiveness of the new policy, which outlines how the AFF may be used to fund NOAA Office of Law Enforcement activities.

The policy, which went into effect July 15, 2015, is intended to “establish a stringent policy for effective oversight of the AFF that will ensure no conflict of interest – real or perceived.” However, in his letter Mr. Jones calls into question whether NOAA will be able to effectively implement this new policy.

According to the letter, one of the main issues with the policy is that expected revenue from the AFF is included in NOAA’s annual budget. The letter notes “OLE must raise its own AFF money from the fishermen for all the approved activities listed in your memo,” a situation it likens to small town “speed traps” that invite abuse. It recommends that, as a transparency measure, AFF revenue collection – along with information such as transactions, violations, vessel names, and who paid for fines – should be posted on NOAA’s website.

The letter concludes by recommending that the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement refrain from implementing the new AFF policy until it has been further advertised and discussed with members of the fishing industry, and their concerns are addressed.

The full letter is reproduced below:

Dear Mr. Doremus:

We have studied your Memorandum for the Office of Law Enforcement, NMFS-Enforcement Section; Office of General Council dated July 15, 2015, (attached).  Our industry would like to know how NOAA is going to keep the Asset Forfeiture Fund (AFF) totally transparent and not become the same quagmire we lived under a few short years ago.

From our experience, the only way this revenue collection scheme can work, is for every transaction to be posted to a NOAA website, so everyone can review; what was the fishery violation, what was the vessel name and home port, how much was the fine, who paid the fine, a copy of every check written to and from the AFF fund and an annual audit posted to the NOAA website. Please hear us out on this vital issue before rejecting it at NOAA headquarters.

Your memo is strongly worded. It says NOAA’s goal is “to establish a stringent policy for effective oversight of the AFF that will assure no conflict of interest – real or perceived – associated with the use” of the money. We believe NOAA’s memorandum forces its law enforcement officers to fund the AFF activities through fines primarily placed on the commercial fishermen. What is NOAA’s stringent oversight policy and how will we know you are doing what you said you would do?

The memorandum says that “NOAA has identified and accounted for the AFF in its annual budget”. Please tell us how much money has been budgeted from fines on fishermen during the upcoming fiscal years? If the budget calculates a specific amount of fine income, anyone can logically surmise that NOAA law enforcement officers have to get in the field and hustle-up that amount of money or there will be a shortfall. This greatly concerns us. The OLE must raise its own AFF money from the fishermen for all the approved activities listed in your memo. This is similar to small towns depending on driving fines to fund their city needs. It reminds us of “speed traps”. Such a system to fund a government entity usually turns out bad in the long run.

We have discussed with state and federal law enforcement officials our observation that commercial fishing vessels are stopped, boarded and fined – sometimes very heavily – while thousands of angler violations are ignored. Illegal fishing by anglers occurs in every coastal county.  That is a well-known fact. Backdoor sales of illegally harvested fish occur daily throughout the Gulf of Mexico. This is no secret. Whenever adequate law enforcement is assigned to this black-market sale of fish, arrests are made and poachers are identified. Unfortunately, in many cases where illegal harvesting happened in federal waters, the anglers were handed over to state officers to be cited and fined under state regulations which are much more lenient.

We are aware federal prosecutors have full dockets. They don’t seem to have time to enforce the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) fishery regulations on anglers the same way they are enforced on professional fishermen. We understand the reluctance to pursue a fish violation by a sport fisherman because he/she might only have a dozen red snapper and that causes too much trouble for the federal dockets. But our knowing how full the federal dockets are doesn’t change our observation and concern that the MSA is enforced differently on anglers than commercial fishermen. The law enforcement system currently in place is more lenient for anglers.  Such a dual system of enforcement does not comply with the rule of law in our opinion.

We have met with state and federal law enforcement officers practically begging them to at least issue and enforce Summary Settlements. Do not just watch an angler’s boat come in from offshore with big red snappers that everyone knows were caught in deeper federal waters.

We respectfully request NOAA – OLE not implement the AFF program described in your memorandum until it has been further advertised and discussed. We further request an informal meeting with you or your designee at the St. Petersburg Regional Office to discuss the AFF program? We would be honored if Mr. Jim Landon could be with you. I have heard nothing but good things about him. Semper fi.

Respectfully,

Bob Jones, Executive Director

Southeastern Fisheries Association

Read NOAA’s Asset Forfeiture Fund Policy here