By Patricia Tummons
In comments on proposed changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council has objected to a provision that would have at least one council member be free of any financial ties to fishing interests under the council’s jurisdiction.
However, a review of the eight financial disclosure forms submitted by the non-governmental members of Wespac shows that no fewer than four of them profess to have no relationship whatsoever to any fishing activity, be it commercial, recreational, subsistence, or academic.
McGrew Rice: On Wespac’s website, Rice, an at-large member for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, is associated with Ihi Nui Charters. On his own website, again, Rice invites people to book him as a charter-boat captain for sport-fishing off the coast of Kona. Yet on his financial disclosure form, signed and certified as true by Rice on January 12, 2021, Rice indicates he has no ownership interest in any company or business engaged in any activity under the council’s jurisdiction, no ownership interest in any fishing vessel, no ownership interest in any business that consults or advocates for fishing interests, no employment whatsoever with anything having anything to do with fishing, and doesn’t serve as an officer, director, or trustee of any organization having anything to do with fishing.
Monique Amani: Amani is identified on Wespac’s website as owner of Monique’s Joint, a restaurant in Hagatna, Guam. Publicity from Wespac describes her as an avid recreational fisher and expert spear-fisher. In a 2020 interview with Pacific News Center of Guam shortly after her appointment as an at-large council member representing Guam, Amani states that she has been a commercial boat captain “for more than 10 years, taking customers SCUBA diving as well as fishing/trolling and helping with crew transfers for fishing vessels.” In her financial disclosure form, signed and certified as true on January 18, 2021, Amani responds in the negative to every question having to do with involvement with any activity or association related to fishing.
William Sword: Sword, the obligatory member from American Samoa, is country manager of Pacific Energy Southwest Pacific, which operates the fuel terminal in Pago Pago and supplies fuel to fishing vessels. Wespac has described him as a recreational fisher and he is listed as a regional representative of the International Game Fish Association on the IGFA website, which states, “As an IGFA representative, Sword is focused on conserving marine resources and promoting the economic value of sustainable fishing practices in the local angling community.” On his financial disclosure form, Sword has answered “No” to every question. As an aside, Pacific Energy Southwest Pacific last year arrived at a consent agreement with the EPA over wastewater discharges into Pago Pago Harbor from the American Samoa terminal. According to the EPA, Pacific Energy will pay a $300,000 penalty and stop unauthorized wastewater discharges from the American Samoa Terminal. Pacific Energy had an NPDES permit from 2010 through 2015 but failed to regularly sample wastewater or meet other permit requirements. After the permit expired, Pacific Energy operated without one — “in violation of the Clean Water Act and of a related 2016 EPA administrative order — until November 1, 2019, when its current NPDES permit became effective,” the EPA states, adding that the lack of sampling makes it impossible to know how polluted the wastewater discharged into Pago Pago Harbor was. It states that the company’s discharge of oil, grease and other toxic pollutants into the harbor “may have damaged water quality and harmed the chemical, physical, and biological balance of the harbor. Many Samoans fish and recreate in Pago Pago Harbor, which is home to important cultural and environmental resources, including nearly 200 species of coral.”
Matthew Ramsey: Ramsey is director of Conservation International’s Hawaiʻi program and began a three-year term on the council in August. The financial disclosure form Ramsey filled out as a council nominee in March is puzzling. He does not check any yes or no circle on any page of the 12-page form. However, in response to question 1.2.3, “Do you have employment with any other entity engaged in the following activities in any fishery under the jurisdiction of the council concerned?” Ramsey does not answer yes or no, but he does check four boxes, indicating he is somehow related to an entity involved in harvesting, processing, marketing, and providing other services essential to harvesting, processing, and marketing. Finally, the form is unsigned.
Mike Tosatto, head of the NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office, was asked about the incomplete information, specifically in the disclosure forms filled out by Rice and Ramsey. He said he would refer the question to NOAA’s general counsel. There was no further response by press time.
The review process for financial disclosures is clearly set out in NMFS publication 01-116-01, “Procedures for Review of Fishery Management Council Financial Disclosures.” There’s a multi-step process, involving an initial review by NMFS headquarters to see that the forms are complete. Then there’s to be a review by NMFS’ Office of Law Enforcement. After that, regional administrators, such as Tosatto, are given an opportunity to review and comment on the forms, following which the forms are made public on the council website.
(For more on this, see “Some Council Family Members Omit Financial Interests on Disclosure Form,” from our July 2016 issue.)
Volume 32, Number 6 December 2021
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