Subagency of NOAA Uses Millions in Fines Illegally ....
We often say that regualtion is a necessary evil, up to a certain point. But overregulation often goes crazy, and just like local bad cops who profit from busting drug dealers and pimps, a Federal Agency can do the same thing - and there is no one to regulate the regulators...
We give you the National Marine Fisheries Agency, which is a subagency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They are basically the Fish Cops - they inspect fishermen for following federal regulations, and levy fines for offending boats. Sounds fair enough, right? Well according to a recent investigation by the US Commerce Dept., the NMFA is offending worse than any boat they've stopped - and they have been for years....
The Commerce report says that the NMFA has taken in over $96 million since 2005, and spent over $49 ....... but only has cash on hand of $8.4 million. That's $38 million missing, or about 40% collected. In addition, they also purchased over 200 vehicles at a cost of $4.6 million, which is illegal - and they only have 175 employees !!!
No, we're not done yet... They also bought 22 vesels costing another $2.7 million (another No-No) , including a $300,000 boat advertised as having a 'beautifully apppointed cabin'. They also spent another $580,000 on 40 trips for officers to attend unauthorized conferences. NMFA employees are only OK'd to travel for enforcement purposes, but someone forgot to read the Conduct Manual apparently...
And where was the NOAA? Asleep at the wheel, because NO ONE regulated the NMFA at the NOAA - they were essentially a rogue agency left with NO OVERSIGHT at all.... The Obama Administartion was all set to chop off heads at the NOAA, but they've backed off, for now.
My guess is they will fix the regulation problem with - you guessed it - more regulation! Meanwhile, independent commercial fisherman across America, who have been overfined and driven out of business by a bunch of Federal Paul Blart's are left wondering if they'd still be around if they were regulated fairly..... and just WHERE the money they paid went to...
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