Department of Commerce
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
National Marine Fisheries Service
- Office of Law Enforcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 17, 2007

NOAA OFFICE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT APPOINTS SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS ENFORCEMENT DIVISION

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service announced today the appointment of William Pickering as Special Agent-in-Charge of the Pacific Islands Enforcement Division. As SAC, Pickering will oversee special agents, enforcement officers and support personnel.

Major issues for the division include long-line fishing activities in Hawaii and the south Pacific, endangered species, illegal imports from various Asian countries and the protection of Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary and the new Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

Pickering served as the Special Agent-in-Charge of the NASA Office of Inspector General’s Western Division for the past three years before joining NOAA Fisheries Service Office of Law Enforcement on September 2, 2007.

From 1976 to 2004, Pickering served with the U.S. Secret Service as a Special Agent, Assistant to the Special Agent-in-Charge and Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Honolulu; and as the Service’s Attaché to Southeast Asia in Bangkok, Thailand.

Prior to the U.S. Secret Service, he was a Police Officer with the Los Angeles Police Department for more than, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from California State University - Sacramento in 1973.

“The NOAA Office of Law Enforcement is pleased to have Bill Pickering as our new Pacific Islands SAC,” said Dale Jones, director of Enforcement for NOAA Fisheries Service OLE.  “Bill will be a valued addition to our enforcement team. His accomplished background will enhance the agency’s abilities to support our mission of protecting and conserving our marine resources.”

NOAA Fisheries Service is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources and their habitats through scientific research, management and enforcement. NOAA Fisheries Service provides effective stewardship of these resources for the benefit of the nation, supporting coastal communities that depend upon them, and helping to provide safe and healthy seafood to consumers and recreational opportunities for the American public.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners and nearly 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes.