I CAN’T STAND ON THE SIDELINES ANYMORE: Speak up now or forever live with it NOAA OLE

What you are witnessing here is a total destruction of a once professional and dedicated federal law enforcement agency. Prior to Chief Jones, the people who worked as agents and officers with NOAA Enforcement not only cared about working resource related violations (Civil and Criminal) but also understood how working with NOAA was like working for no other law enforcement agency.

 

Your local NOAA agent/officer could tell you the names of each boat in every port he/she worked. They knew the men, women and families that made their living on those boats and also understood they had to do their job. However, they also understood there was a certain code to being a good NOAA agent/officer and how to gain respect on the docks. That respect was earned by treating fishermen and dealers who made simple mistakes the way you would want to be treated.  If a guy’s permit was expired and you could prove he had applied for it and it was simply held up in the mail you overlooked it while he made a

trip to feed his family or pay his bills. With that gained respect you became part of the fishing community and someone the honest fishermen was glad to see on the docks, a guy the honest fishermen would contact when they knew there was a blatant violator among them.  A NOAA agent/officer understood occasionally there was a bureaucratic mess up and that agent would work with the local fishermen in a way everyone came out feeling good about the outcome or decision the agent had to make. The agent/officer visited the docks, not only to investigate someone but also just to say high or to see which boats were in and what had been landed. These visits to the docks served two purposes, it gave the agent/officer some credibility with the fishermen but also acted as a deterrent to any possible violators. Honest, hard working fishermen are just like the rest of us, they are proud of their profession and enjoy talking about that profession. If an agent/officer was respected he didn’t

 have to

ask for information it was freely given by the captains and crew on the docks. It was great to be part of something much bigger than NOAA, it was being part of a tradition. The agents/officer and fishermen knew who the real bad guys were and that is who the agents/officers devoted their time to catching and investigating (Civil and Criminal).  The agents/officers knew the job they were doing and knew NOAA OLE Headquarters understood that job because they had been where you were at once.  It is no longer like that, now the agents/officers work under a fear of retaliation by headquarters, they are not encouraged to be free thinkers or make decisions in the field. If we dared questions or comment Chief Jones or one of his select few you became the target of their investigation. “God Save US if we don’t become obedient to Jones and his hand picked staff”. 

Speak up now fellow agents/officers, I know we have in the past but now someone is listening.

Agent X

Comments

[Sea Captian]

What a bunch of overpaid OLE do nothing cry babies. Much like the INS, the you agency will be abolished. Just hope and prayer that the Fed Gov rolls you up into Fish & Wildlife and rewards you for your civil blunders much like they did with the INS for their administrative blunders.

[Steven]

I was there before and after Jones and Agent X is correct in his comments. However I also feel that the US Fish and Wildlife Service is better set up to handle the task. No more splitting up the program of NOAA gets this fish and USF&WS get that one. What a mess Jones has made.