A Bone Thrown

With wealthy environmental/ corporate NGOs lobbying to get small boats out, NMFS a Magnuson scoff law, and fed law enforcement ripping up the constitution, federal policy appears ultimately to be not over how many fish there are, but over who will get them.

Fewer boats will definitely mean fewer fishermen, but the remaining boats will ultimately be bigger, corporate machines that ravage the resource, and the industry’s businesses, jobs, and communities.

In a desperate effort to save the fleet that has not yet been consolidated, fishermen have established Permit Banks at Gloucester, on Cape Cod and recently in Maine with $3 million in federal money. The Permit Banks buy federal permits to preserve them for individual fishermen. At six figures a permit, $3 million will not keep many fishermen in business.

Maine’s noteworthy, years long permit bank effort was realized just as the NMFS law enforcement scandal was being heard in congress.

The NMFS’ northeast law enforcement office, after a recent inspector general’s audit, was found to be rife with corruption. Found was an account funded by fines from fishermen, which reportedly collected $96 million between 2005 and 2009 alone. Questionable overseas travel and vague expense submissions were uncovered. The chief enforcement officer was ousted for corruption and shredding documents during the federal investigation.

The maze of fishing rules changes almost daily.

Enforcement used that to stick it to fishermen who mortgaged their homes, cashed in college and retirement funds, or sold permits to pay fines that were five times higher than in other regions of the country.

The improper and illegally gained $47 million left in this forfeiture fund should not be squandered on more “luxury” boats for the enforcement office.

NMFS claims it was an unmonitored $96 million account. That raises very serious questions about an end justifying the means policy, a slush fund for law enforcement’s illegal acts, and deniability for top brass.

The $3 million is 1/100 of the $300 million NMFS budget and 1/100 of $96 million. A bone thrown for damage control?

Whatever portion of the remaining $47 million that came from New England fishermen should go back to New England fishermen. That money may buy enough permits to get serious about mitigating the loss of access and rebuilding New England’s traditional small boat fleet which has been so unjustly diminished.