SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Boston Globe] By Steven Rosenberg Globe Staff - March 3, 2010 - GLOUCESTER - Facing criticism that the federal government has been too focused on fining New England fishermen while lax in its accounting methods, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration head Jane Lubchenco pledged to conduct a thorough review of the organization, during a special congressional hearing yesterday at Gloucester City Hall. 'This is a high priority issue for me,'' Lubchenco told US representatives John Tierney, Barney Frank, and Dennis Kucinich and an audience of about 200 members of the fishing industry. The hearing was scheduled to address concerns about the government agency following a January report by US Inspector General Todd Zinser that found 'systemic, nationwide issues adversely affecting NOAA's ability to effectively carry out its mission of regulating the fishing industry.'' The report criticized the agency's senior leadership in the Northeast region for allowing enforcement officers to operate 'autonomously.'' It said fishermen in the region were fined more than $5 million between 2004 and 2009 for violating regulations - dwarfing penalties imposed during that time in the country's five other major fishing regions. Through appeals, those fines were reduced to $1.6 million. The report also was critical of how the NOAA division that collects fines managed a fund that had an $8.4 million balance as of December. During the hearing, Dale Jones, NOAA's director of law enforcement, acknowledged he spent some of the money on business trips and Zinser said the fund had not been audited. Lubchenco told the congressmen she has instituted a freeze on hiring criminal investigators, and has shifted control of the $8.4 million in fine money to the organization's comptroller. 'The inspector general is in the process of conducting a forensic audit on this fund,'' she said. The hearing - initiated by Tierney - was held a week after more than 2,000 members of the fishing industry gathered in Washington, D.C., to protest federal regulations that limit the size of catches. Since the early 1990s, when the government implemented tough laws restricting fishing so stocks could regenerate, the number of days fishermen can spend at sea has slowly dwindled. Currently, most federal licenses allow less than 30 days a year at sea. The restrictions have hit particularly hard in Gloucester, where the once vibrant fishing industry has deteriorated in recent years. While it is still ranked 10th in volume catch in the United States - bringing in more than $54 million a year, according to NOAA - a fishing fleet with several hundred boats a few decades ago has been reduced to fewer than 100. And as regulations have grown stiffer and penalties larger, many fishermen say they have been forced to buy additional licenses, reduce the size of their crews, and fish alone in an effort to remain in business. Before the meeting, Lubchenco met privately with about two dozen fishermen who urged her to reconsider implementing even deeper catch quotas in May. In an interview, Lubchenco said she did not support a bill being crafted in Congress that calls for more fish to be harvested. 'I do not believe that the bill is the right solution,'' she said. Vito Giacalone, policy director of the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition, an industry group, predicted that more than half of the fishermen in the city could be forced out of business if the regulations stay in place. 'The whole thing is on life support. You can't even measure what's happening to these fishing families,'' said Giacalone. During the hearing, Gloucester fisherman Vince Taormina moved nervously among the crowd and questioned whether the hearing would result in any changes to help fishermen. Still, he listened intently and said he was glad members of Congress had come to Gloucester. 'It's about time,'' Taormina said.