Tag Archives: NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement (OLE)
The NOAA Oversight Project – Fisherman’s FOIA’s Squeeze NOAA
From Dutch Harbor to the Old Harbor Float in Petersburg, from Gloucester and all the way round to Corpus Christi, wherever Americans untied their boats to fish in the decades since the Magnuson Act passed, fishermen had to take on science, politics, and NOAA. Some of you spent your shore time up to your knees in fish politics dividing the stock or arguing with managers about areas or days at sea. Because you engaged in politics, new generations of kids setting and hauling gear can still catch fish. Sort of– Sit down, put a mug up, and read this expose. You will be shocked. Read the article here 16:28
Fisherman Charles Wertz, Jr. pled guilty in federal district court to one count of wire fraud and two counts of falsifying federal records
An investigation initiated in July 2010 by NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) into Research Set-Aside (RSA) program violations culminated in a guilty plea on August 15, 2013, by an East Meadow, NY, fisherman and his fish dealer company to wire fraud and falsifying federal records. In all, OLE agents determined that Wertz filed 137 false federal dealer reports and 70 false fishing logs while C&C Ocean Fishery aided and abetted in the submission of the reports. the defendants have agreed to pay between $480,000 and $516,000 in combined fines and forfeitures and will undergo multiple sentence conditions, including relinquishment of federal fishing permits, a ban on participation in the RSA program, and shutting down C&C Ocean Fishery. [email protected] 10:59
