By KIRK MOORE • STAFF WRITER • March 3, 2010WASHINGTON — The nation's top fish cop is coming under scrutiny, as the chairwoman of a congressional subcommittee suggested Dale Jones should step aside after members heard that Jones had staffers shred documents amid an investigation by the inspector general of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Rep. Madeleine Bordallo, D-Guam and a member of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, said after a committee hearing today that Jones should voluntarily move aside until the inspector general's investigation is complete, The Associated Press reported. NOAA officials and a spokeswoman for Jones' office did not return requests for comment. The Washington hearing came a day after a charged congressional field hearing in Gloucester, Mass., where NOAA officials were intently questioned about fisheries law enforcement actions. Inspector General Todd Zinser's report found that Northeast fishermen were assessed much higher fines for violations compared to other coastal regions — and were much more likely to settle with the agency for lesser amounts. Zinser also told legislators that Jones' office had control over a poorly controlled fund that had more than $8 million from penalties and was used to pay for travel and business expenses for law enforcement. NOAA law enforcement was one target of demonstrators' ire during a Feb. 24 fishermen's rally on Capitol Hill calling for changes in federal fisheries law."Dale Jones treated everyone like a criminal," said Bill Lee, a Massachusetts fisherman who sold his groundfish permits last fall to settle what he says were unjustified NOAA violations. Lee said he met personally with Jones and other NOAA officials to tell them of the agency's dysfunctional relationships with the industry: "In my way, I warned them about this. But they didn't care."
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