Fisheries police audit findings spurs outrage

An audit of federal fisheries police that found they misspent millions of dollars collected in fines from fishermen on unauthorized cars, boats and travel evoked outrage from Northport fisherman Tom Kokell Friday.

"It's devastating what they've done to me," said Kokell, who was hit with $65,000 in fines for holding 600 pounds of unauthorized fluke in 2007. In May, he asked that the fine be reduced, to no avail. "You just sit back and say, 'Who are these people?' They're like criminals. Nobody oversees what they do."

Last week, the U.S. Commerce Department's inspector general released a report saying the fund run by law enforcement officers of the National Marine Fisheries Agency was administered "in a manner that is neither transparent nor conducive to accountability, thus rendering it susceptible to both error and abuse." Among the findings:

The fund was used to buy 202 cars between 2005 and 2009 at a cost of $4.6 million, though rules banned car purchases and there were only 176 officers in the agency.

There was no policy for take-home vehicles, yet an agency director frequently left his car (a Chrysler Pacifica) at a commuter rail station, and took a train to work free.

Boat purchases also weren't authorized, yet the fund was used to buy 22 vessels at a cost of $2.7 million, including a "luxurious" $300,000 boat with a "beautifully appointed cabin."

Nearly $580,000 was spent on travel by officers to 40 destinations primarily to attend unauthorized conferences, despite a rule that limits travel to enforcement actions.

The fund took in more than $96 million in fines primarily from commercial fishermen between January 2005 and June 2009, and spent more than $49 million, yet it lists a balance of just $8.4 million.

"I am deeply troubled by the way the [fund] has been handled in the past," Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said last week. She ordered oversight of the fund to be shifted to a NOAA controller.

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and others this week called for Lubchenco to step down, but Friday he rescinded the demand after promises from the Obama administration that the issues are being "seriously" addressed. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the latest "bombshell casts NOAA's entire enforcement program into doubt," adding, "There needs to be an immediate halt on the use of forfeiture money until we get to the bottom of this."

For years, Kokell and other fishermen have complained the fines were excessive. A related report by the inspector general earlier this year found total fines paid by Northeast fishermen were substantially higher than those in other regions, and that enforcement actions were overzealous.

Kokell was originally hit with a $120,000 fine and a year's suspension, but settled for $65,000. Two months ago, the married father of two buckled under the weight of the fines. In May, after a request that the fine be reduced, he stopped paying, and stopped fishing.

"I called them two months ago and said, 'I don't have anymore,'" said Kokell, who still owes $30,000. "They can come down and take my boat."