Citing a “Systemic Failure”, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is calling on the United States Department of Commerce to voluntarily release documents pertaining to disciplinary and corrective actions taken by the Department, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) with regard to “overzealous” and “abusive” prosecutions of Massachusetts fishermen.

The following was released by the Massachusetts Attorney General's office:

BOSTON – Sept. 29, 2011 --  Seeking further accountability about actions taken to correct a systemic failure that led to the “overzealous” and “abusive” prosecutions of Massachusetts fishermen, Attorney General Martha Coakley is calling on the United States Department of Commerce to voluntarily release documents pertaining to disciplinary and corrective actions taken by the Department, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in response to the revelations.

Coakley’s office issued the letter to Acting Commerce Department Secretary Rebecca Blank yesterday.

“Regulations are only effective and appropriate when we can ensure the integrity of those who enforce them,” AG Coakley said. “We believe only a full review of the decisions made in the past can restore the faith of our office and the public in NOAA’s enforcement efforts going forward.”

In the letter to Secretary Blank, Attorney General Coakley raises significant concerns stemming from an investigation by the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce and a subsequent report issued by Special Master Charles B. Swartwood, III that found that NOAA engaged in enforcement practices that were excessive and unreasonable. The IG’s and Special Master’s reports outlined a pattern of abuses committed by law enforcement personnel under that agency’s oversight that negatively impacted the livelihoods of individual fisherman, businesses, and fishing communities in Massachusetts.

In her letter AG Coakley states that questions remain about what disciplinary actions, if any, the Department, NOAA or NMFS took in response to conduct of personnel that was described by the Special Master as “overzealous, abusive or arbitrary.” Further, there has been little detailed information about how, or even if, the Department plans to address the “systemic failings” of managerial oversight acknowledged by former-Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in the NOAA Northeast Regional Office.