Federal investigators questioned one out of every $6 the regional fishery council spent over the past decade and documented inappropriate procurement practices.

Pushing foreign fleets farther offshore was just the beginning. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council oversaw a gold rush in Hawaii.

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council’s lack of transparency and unabashed politicking has prompted an effort to curtail questionable behavior through legislation.

Alaskans have learned the hard way how to keep fish stocks healthy in a state where fishermen and environmentalists work together to protect the resource.

The same industry backers are reappointed to Wespac for term after term while people who lean toward conservation are soon replaced.

The longtime leader of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council has always done things her own way, for better or for worse.

The council’s leaders have done everything they can to stop presidents from creating monuments in the Pacific. Members of Congress have put forward a way to curb the lobbying.

From paying people to attend meetings to pushing legislation and even publishing a book, the federal fisheries panel spent years trying to influence state policy.

A Civil Beat investigation into the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council shows its longtime director and loyal council members have for decades used questionable strategies to help commercial fishermen.

The United Nations Conference of Biological Diversity will likely be the stage for pledges to create new marine protected areas.