Citizen groups sue Wespac, NOAA, DOC

[B]HONOLULU, Hawaii[/B]—A lawsuit seeking basic government documents has been filed in Federal District Court against the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Department of Commerce by the Conservation Council for Hawaii, The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, KAHEA; and the LOST FISH Coalition.

The lawsuit was filed to gain access to documents requested by the plaintiffs in a Nov. 14, 2007, Freedom of Information Act request submitted to Wespac seeking basic budget, grant, and contract information.

“In addition to shedding light on the long-hidden and most basic internal operations of this controversial federal entity, the documents may also shed light on how Wespac funds may have been used in what appears to be various lobbying campaigns to influence state and federal legislative and executive branch decisions related to marine conservation in Western Pacific waters,” said Tina Owens of the LOST FISH Coalition.

Miwa Tamanaha, KAHEA executive director noted: “Wise, sound, community-based management requires accountability and transparency. If there is nothing improper, then there should be nothing to hide. With the situation of our ocean resources so imperiled, it is ridiculous that citizen groups should have go to these lengths to get basic information about use of our public dollars.”

Wespac has been under scrutiny related to allegations of illegal lobbying, including actions to try and halt the Hawaii and CNMI national marine monument declarations, and for funding the controversial Puwalu Series, a lobbying ploy to pass legislation curtailing community-based-fishing-management programs in Hawaii.

Based in Honolulu, Wespac is the subject of at least two active federal investigations; one by the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the Inspector General, and another by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Tina Owens said, “Getting any public information from Wespac is virtually impossible, and that’s not only not right, it’s not legal. This is a federal entity, funded by taxpayers’ money and unless specific documents fall under one of a few narrow FOIA exceptions, every document in their possession must be open to the public. Back in October of 2007, the public was told by Wespac executive director Kitty Simonds that Wespac’s library and all of its documents ‘…are open to the public at any time,’ For months I tried to access the Wespac library and Wespac documents, and at each turn Ms. Simonds put up new roadblocks to my access, often at significant cost and inconvenience. When she could ignore me no more, she backtracked and stated that I had to file a Freedom of Information Act request. So I did. Then she ignored that as well. What is Wespac hiding? How can a federal entity treat the public like this? They need to realize they are answerable to the public.”

Lead counsel Peter Van Tuyn said that there is a “shocking insensitivity of Wespac and its executive director, Kitty Simonds, to the required open and transparent decisionmaking.”

“As President Obama states, a ‘democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency,’” he added.

The original FOIA requests were generated as part of the plaintiffs’ ongoing oversight of Western Pacific federal and state water ocean resource conservation issues involving the restoration and protection of the Western Pacific Ocean environment and the people who reside in the region.

Wespac is one of eight regional councils established under the U.S. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management and Recovery Act to manage the nation’s offshore marine resources. Additional information is available at www.wpcouncil.org. (PR)