The Foreign Fishing Observer Program

Management Improvements Needed Gao ID: RCED-85-110 August 12, 1985

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) management of the Foreign Fishing Observer Program, including: (1) the process the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) follows to develop program costs for budgeting and billing purposes; (2) the issue of health and safety conditions on foreign fishing vessels; (3) the use of observer-generated information; and (4) the use of contract observers in the Northwest and Alaska program.

GAO found that: (1) NMFS used an advance estimated billing process, based on the anticipated level of foreign fishing, planned level of observer coverage, and established cost factors; (2) the billing process has restricted NMFS from pursuing its planned level of observer coverage until sufficient funds have been collected and become available for obligation; (3) with a sufficient amount of working capital, NMFS could pursue its planned program level and implement a billing system based on actual costs; (4) NMFS should establish sanctions for foreign fishing vessels considered inadequate for the placement of an observer; (5) NMFS should set health and safety standards to judge the adequacy of foreign fishing vessels; and (6) NMFS considered information obtained by observers on foreigners' compliance with fishing laws and regulations valuable to ensure that all information needs were being met. GAO also found that: (1) adjustments to the training program curriculum could be made by adopting a standard training curriculum and instructional procedures for those elements of biological data that NMFS believes should be presented to all observers; and (2) NMFS used contract observers in the Northwest and Alaska regional programs, rather than federal employees, because agency personnel ceilings would not permit it to hire enough federal employees.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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