Kudos to reporter Catherine Rentz for her expose, "Seafood fraud cases plummet as NOAA cuts investigators" (Dec. 7).
Unfortunately, the article did not address the reasons for the realignment of NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement (OLE). It did, however, accurately summarize inefficient rule making, inconsistent penalties, and a future in which those who market illegally obtained seafood may have a better chance to continue their crimes unfettered.
The blame for the system's woes, however, have been improperly and capriciously assigned to NOAA's special agents. Regulatory development and the assessment of civil penalties and criminal sanctions have never been the purview of any law enforcement agency but the responsibility of policy makers, prosecutors and the courts. Badge-wielding agents with the power to arrest, however, attract attention and are easy scapegoats for both struggling fishermen and politicians.
The U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General (IG) investigation of NOAA Fisheries Enforcement was misguided, with pre-determined outcomes. It was initiated for political reasons, less than a year after the same office conducted a routine programmatic review of OLE, finding no significant problems.
NOAA's enforcement program was certified by the Commission for Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies, which ensured policies were state-of-the-art. Accreditation is a credential never earned by the IG. This same IG, considered a bully by many colleagues, is alleged to have retaliated against whistleblowers, made misleading reports to Congress, and hired staffers inappropriately. Two of his own gun-toting special agents were convicted in Federal court for fraud and sentenced to eight months imprisonment; at least one of those agents had been instrumental in the demise of the Fisheries Enforcement program. The IG has little credibility in the professional law enforcement community.
A uniformed cadre of inspectors cannot conduct the complex international investigations described in the article. NOAA's response that "fix-it" tickets are the solution to organized crime is simplistic and naive. Compliance is only a small part of the solution to illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. It takes trained, seasoned special agents to ferret out the poaching, smuggling, money laundering and fraud so common in organized crime's corner of the world of seafood.
Andy Cohen
The writer is the former special agent-in-charge of NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement.