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"coming up"
Bruce Buckson: There's three pieces to fisheries management.
The first is science.
It requires science to be able to determine what your needs are.
The second part of it is management.
Then the third part of it's enforcement.
You need each one of those pieces to be able to make that three-legged stool stand.
Narrator: NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement is integral to the success of
NOAA's mission of protecting and conserving marine resources and their habitats.
"Hi, I'm Officer Sekerak, National Marine Fisheries."
"Pleasure to meet you."
" I'm here to do a vessel inspection on all your fisheries log books and permits."
"Do you have those available?"
"I do." "Thank you."
NOAA's agents and officers are responsible for enforcing
more than 35 federal statutes
over more than 3 million square miles of open ocean
and 85,000 miles of U.S. coastline,
including the country's 13 National Marine Sanctuaries,
its Marine National Monuments,
and the enforcement of international treaties.
Bruce Buckson: We're getting a lot of support for what our mission is.
Where we're headed, what we're trying to do, what we're targeting
is right in line with what the industry's interested in doing,
and also the recreational fishermen as well.
Narrator: NOAA's mandate to end overfishing and to protect living resources
requires compliance with the regulations,
especially those that guide our nation's diverse commercial and recreational fishing fleets.
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Narrator: NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement is improving its ability
to ensure compliance with laws and regulations
by combining focused and effective criminal enforcement
with more extensive compliance assistance,
monitoring,
patrols,
and inspections.
Sherrie Tinsley-Myers: A very high priority for us
is to deal with any cases that deal with
skewing of the sustainable fisheries data,
the reporting that goes to the agencies
so they can make management decisions
about when fisheries are opened or closed,
bycatch rates, those sorts of things.
Those are critical to the success of the fisheries and,
therefore, are very important to us,
and our highest priority is cases that really influence management decisions.
"Cut that, and lay it right in there."
Narrator: This data is collected in a variety of ways.
The most traditional method is from dockside interactions
with commercial and recreational fishermen.
Enforcement officers check permits and log books,
and the set-up of fishing gear to prevent bycatch.
Basically, they make sure everything in the trip reports
matches up with what's received by the processing plants.
Monitoring and inspection also extend into the recreational sector.
The goal is to maintain a sustainable resource
and create a level playing field for all fishermen.
"So you're limit would have been ten?"
"Ten, yea, it was."
So you guys are good to go."
The Office of Law Enforcement also uses advanced technology,
including a Vessel Monitoring System, or VMS.
Alaska is one region where VMS is in place.
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Guy Holt: Due to the volume of fish delivered in Alaska,
the numerous vessels,
the huge areas that we deal with,
there's no possible way to actually have manned patrol vessels out there.
VMS allows us to leverage technology
to be aware of the fishing grounds,
who's where, what they're harvesting.
It's just one of the many tools we use for enforcement.
"Eighty-six."
"Eight-six inches, perfect!"
Narrator: Most commercial and recreational fishermen comply with conservation measures
and NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement investigators
are there to ensure that those who obey the rules
reap the benefits of fair competition
and an even playing field.
"Oh, look at that, Godzilla!"
When the laws are followed,
everybody wins
:the fish, the fishermen,
and future generations.
Roy Hyder: Enforcement's critical.
By far the majority of the fishermen are dedicated, professional people.
They wanna fish the rest of their lives,
they're dedicated to sustainable fisheries.
But there is a fact in human nature
that we run into time and time again,
and it takes an enforcement staff working with that public,
informing that public,
developing compliance with that public,
and then, in the final analysis,
conducting investigations and apprehending those bad actors
that literally steal from the rest of us.
And that's where,
where I think our enforcement officers
and the collaboration with our state partners really pays off,
because in the final analysis, if that doesn't happen,
then the industry's the victim.
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"Thanks for having us out. We appreciate your help."
Bruce Buckson: It's always encouraging to me
to see the passion that our folks have to be able to work on the mission
and to accomplish the mission.
Conservation law enforcement's different than the police department,
and the folks that take this job are very interested in the resource.
Sherrie Tinsley-Myers: And sometimes there's challenges because
the public may not fully understand the work that we do.
It's not as appreciated until the resources that they're protecting are gone.
Roy Hyder: I wanna compliment those field officers,
I wanna compliment those special agents,
and I wanna thank 'em for their service,
and I wanna ask 'em to keep doing what they're doing.
"If you see anything that's questionable,
this is one of our tide books.
Our 800 number is on the back there, give us a call."
"Okay, thanks." "Take care."
"Alright Skipper, well you have a good trip,
and we'll see you back in Kodiak later on."
"See ya another day." "Alright, take care."