Tag Archives: Government Accountability Office
Federal fishing monitoring program needs overhaul, GAO says
Only days after the Supreme Court dealt a blow to the federal government’s program placing human observers on commercial fishing boats, a federal watchdog said NOAA Fisheries should do a better job monitoring the industry. A report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office said NOAA Fisheries — also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service — has failed to execute its program as Congress intended under law. “NMFS’ efforts to track its performance in reducing and monitoring bycatch do not align with key elements of evidence-based policymaking related to performance management,” GAO said in the report, which was requested by Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:19
Biden admin under fire for offshore wind impacts on military operations
Earlier this week, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., industry stakeholders and experts met with officials from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a top federal watchdog agency, to discuss their concerns about offshore wind development. According to Smith, who represents a district along the Atlantic coast home to a naval weapons depot and where offshore wind projects have been proposed, more than an hour of the three-hour meeting was devoted to military impacts. The GAO recently agreed to investigate the wide-ranging effects of offshore wind development after Smith, fellow New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., and several other lawmakers called for a probe. The investigation will look, in part, into wind turbines’ impact on military operations and radar. >click to read< 07:55
GAO to investigate New Jersey ‘offshore wind industrialisation’
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent congressional watchdog, has agreed to launch an investigation into the impact of the development of windfarms offshore New JerseyThe investigation will examine the potential effects of the development of offshore wind on the environment, fishing industry, military operations, navigational safety and other issues, said Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ). Representative Smith said the GAO would conduct an “aggressive, independent investigation” into what he claimed are the “ocean-altering impacts of the 3,400 offshore wind turbines slated for the Jersey shore” and “address concerns” that, he claimed, “the Biden Administration and Governor Murphy continue to dismiss. >click to read< 07:44
Officials calling for more accurate fish counts
The federal agency in charge of the nation’s fisheries should do a better job counting fish so it can develop proper catch limits for recreational anglers, a report by Congress’ investigative arm concludes. The analysis by the Government Accountability Office was requested nearly three years ago by several Republican senators from the Gulf Coast who believe the Obama administration may have been overly restrictive in imposing catch limits on several popular fish, including red snapper. Read the article here 09:10
Make sure fish counts are right
The federal government owes it to the people, businesses and natural resources it oversees to get it right when it comes to questions of science. The question of getting an accurate scientifically sound count on fish when determining government policy is a no-brainer. continued
Gulf fish-counting method needs scrutiny, lawmakers say
Those stocks are used to determine catch limits and have long been a source of contention for the fishing industry and environmentalists. Environmental groups concerned about dwindling stocks of vulnerable species say overfishing could affect the Gulf region’s ecology and economy for decades. Fishermen say current catch limits are based on flawed science and have cost coastal communities jobs and other economic benefits. Read more
Gulf Coast senators ask for investigation of National Marine Fisheries Service
Eight senators from coastal states asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the way the National Marine Fisheries estimates the size of fish populations in U.S. waters. Called stock assessments by the fisheries service, those estimates are used to set annual catch limits for recreational and commercial fisheries. Read more here
