72 



July 22, 1993 



r, HAWAII 

 hSHERMEN'S 

 FOUNDATION 



Mr. Frrtnk DeGftOrge 

 Inspector General 

 Dept. of Commerce Ste. 7898 

 14th & Constitution Ave. N.W. 

 Washington, DC 20230 



Dear Mr. DeGeorge, 



For many months now, our Foundation, as well as other 

 organizations, individuals and public officials throughout 

 Hawaii, have been trying to get the Western Pacific Regional 

 Fisheries Management Council (WPRFMC), to address a very serious 

 issue. Unfortunately our attempts have failed and this matter 

 continues to cast doubt on the integrity of both the Council 

 and the Department of Commerce. 



Two WPRFMC council members have been accused by the NMFS of 

 violating several fisheries regulations, which involved the 

 illegal taking of over 1600 undersized and egg-bearing lobster, 

 as v;ell as other related fisheries regulations (see attached). 

 This in itself has overwhelming ramifications, since the NMFS 

 and the WPRFMC have now had to close the Lobster fishery 

 altogether. The fishery, according to the most recent data 

 and the NMFS biologists, has been severely overfished. 



Enclosed is a report of the incident, as well as a subsequent 

 letter outlining the position of the NMFS, to the chairman of 

 the WPRFMC and what action would be taken if any council member 

 is found guilty of violating these types of regulations. These 

 council members not only violated fisheries regulations, but 

 they also failed to disclose a secret financial commitment to 

 one another, which was inadvertently uncovered by the US Coast 

 Guard and made public at the August 1992 Council meeting. 

 There are other questionable activities by these council members, 

 that seem to suggest that there may be serious conflicts of 

 interest as well. 



Our complaint is that there are no checks and balances to correct 

 this situation. When other Dept. of Commerce employees have 

 been accused of illegal activities, even outside of the agency, 

 they're put on administrative leave until the case is either 

 settled or they are found innocent. There are dozens of these 

 cases on record, both here in Hawaii and on the mainland. We 

 had thought that this Dept. of Commerce policy would be standard 

 operating procedure in order to insure the public's trust in 

 the process. However, not only do these council members, who 



305 Hahani Street #181, Kailua, Hawaii 96734 



