THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 8, 1995 TAG: 9503080534
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
Questions surrounding the handling of about $1 million in state fisheries grant money may mean the end of a valued fisheries research project, state fisheries officials said this week.
The state's top fisheries regulator said Monday night that he's willing to end the project to address the ethical questions levied against the program - and to restore the integrity of the grants system and the state Marine Fisheries Commission.
``We have got to make sure that there is no appearance of conflict,'' said Robert V. Lucas, chairman of North Carolina's Marine Fisheries Commission. ``We're dealing with people with the highest integrity. I don't think the issue is whether or not there is a conflict, but whether there is the appearance of a conflict.''
The controversy comes at a critical time for the program, as one panel of state lawmakers is considering cuts in the grant program as a way to help pay for various tax cuts offered by state leaders.
One key coastal legislator said Tuesday that questions surrounding the grant recipients' selection committee won't help.
``What happened wasn't very helpful, to say the least,'' said Senate leader Marc Basnight, a Manteo Democrat whose ideas helped spark the program last year. ``It doesn't look good.
``But at least the Marine Fisheries Commission has the chance to make it right,'' Basnight said.
Established last year as a way to encourage innovative fisheries research projects among watermen, the fisheries grant program sought to entice fishermen to participate in fisheries management, much like agriculture research projects in involving farmers in field tests.
Lucas appointed Dirk Frankenberg, a Marine Fisheries Commission member and scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to head a seven-member panel to evaluate the nearly 145 grant applications prepared by fishermen and other groups.
During a two-day meeting last week in Morehead City, the committee culled the list of nearly 145 applications for research projects that totaled more than $8.6 million to a list of 41 projects totaling $959,561.
But when the panel released its recommendations, three of the 41 grants recommended for funding by the commission were to members of the grant selection committee or their family members - or to organizations to which committee members belonged:
An $11,000 grant to study mesh size and escape ring size for black sea bass pots was awarded to Jodie Gay, a commercial fisherman from Hampstead, a member of the grant selection committee and a member of the Marine Fisheries Commission;
A $17,000 grant to study sizes of gray trout caught in gill nets was awarded to Brian Shepard and New River Nets of Sneads Ferry, a commercial fishing concern owned, in part, by Melvin Shepard, a member of the grant selection committee. A $6,310 grant to study the effects of unattended crab pots was awarded to Terry E. Gay of Hampstead, Jodie Gay's wife.
In recent interviews, a group of people - Maury Wolff, the Division of Marine Fisheries employee who oversaw the selection committee's operations, other division staff members who attended the panel's deliberations, and Shepard - all said that Gay and Shepard left the room when their grant applications were discussed and did not vote on them.
``Every effort was made, short of disqualifying their applications, to avoid a conflict of interest,'' Wolff said Monday. ``I think the process worked, and I'm sorry to see all this hoopla around it.
``These seven people did the best good-faith job that they could.''
The review by the grant selection committee was the third review of the applications. Each grant application was sent to three reviewers either out-of-state or outside the division of Marine Fisheries and given a number score on a scale of one to 100.
Next, each grant was reviewed by a member of the Division of Marine Fisheries staff, who evaluated how badly the research was needed and how it fit into division programs.
The three grants being questioned were among the 42 grants receiving scores of 75 or higher from the independent reviewers. All three were also recommended for approval by division staff.
Terry Gay's proposal received a score of 94 2/3 from reviewers and was among the most highly ranked of any of the grant applications. Jodie Gay's proposal received a score of 85 2/3, and the New River Net proposal received a score of 80 2/3 from the three reviewers.
Melvin Shepard said he and his son decided to apply for the grant after one local fisherman, who had conducted a similar project in recent years, opted not to apply for the grant. Division staff members and fisheries researchers said the study would provide badly needed research.
Efforts to reach Gay for comment were unsuccessful Monday and Tuesday.
Lucas said he will ask the Marine Fisheries Commission next week in New Bern to decide how to handle the current grant applications. But he said he would prefer not to consider any of the proposals for funding that have ties to members of the grant selection committee.
Lucas also said he will ask the commission to change the rules of the grants program to bar from serving on the selection committee anyone who seeks a grant or has ties to an organization seeking money from the program. by CNB