A group of U.S. representatives wants more oversight of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, claiming the council improperly used taxpayer money and has a history of “improper” lobbying against conservation measures in federal waters.

On Wednesday, Hawaii’s U.S. Rep. Ed Case and three other members of the U.S. House sent a letter to Richard Spinrad, undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, to express their “continued, deep concern with the pattern of mismanagement” of spending at the council, also known as Wespac.

The letter from Case and Reps. Raul Grijalva, Jared Huffman and Gregorio Sablan specifically noted the roughly $837,000 in “disallowed costs” that Wespac spent and has yet to repay.

In 2021 the Office of the Inspector General published an audit of Wespac’s spending of federal money, finding that it improperly spent about $1.2 million in awarded funds. After an appeal by the council, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Acquisitions and Grants Office in December dropped that number to just above $837,000 in a final decision.

NOAA gave the council 30 days from that decision to pay back the misspent funds or negotiate a payment plan or other arrangement.

The representatives’ letter said Wespac has yet to repay its debt and has instead proposed to either “use additional federal funding to deliver on a repayment schedule” or “seek debt forgiveness through the Department of Justice,” which they were displeased with.

“These actions are wholly inadequate and would result in zero accountability for an egregious act of misspent taxpayer dollars,” the letter said, later adding, “Redirecting new federal funds to repayment or simply forgiving the misspent funds without any accountability for those who oversaw or approved such mishandling of federal dollars will further erode the public’s trust in our government’s ability to fulfill its duties responsibly.”

The lawmakers also want to prevent Wespac from “improper grassroots lobbying” against conservation measures in federal waters in the Pacific Ocean, noting that NOAA is holding public meetings and collecting comments for the proposed national marine sanctuary in the Pacific Remote Islands area, or PRIA.

“(Council) staff have worked to oppose marine protections and designations for years, engaging in behind-the-scenes assistance to opponents of such designations and organizing rallies in opposition,” the letter said. “These and other actions amount to improper lobbying with federal funds.”

President Joe Biden in March announced his support for the sanctuary designation and expansion of an existing monument in the waters around the islands. The sanctuary designation could grow the monument from 265,000 to 777,000 square miles, which would make it the largest marine protected area in the world.

Case said Wespac has campaigned against marine monuments and sanctuaries in meetings meant to educate the public, and he’s worried Wespac will do it again.

“It is prohibited from spending federal monies to lobby on this matter,” Case told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser. “Wespac has already been found to have crossed that line. It is our clear suspicion, based on past practices, that Wespac will once again try to approach that line as close as possible, if not cross it. We want the overseeing department, which we are responsible for overseeing as Congress, to be very focused on Wespac’s activities.”

On Wednesday, NOAA held the first of seven public meetings on the proposed sanctuary. During the meetings the staff fields public input on the boundaries, uses and threats of a sanctuary designation.

The first meeting was held in Manoa, and the second will be held today in Hilo. The following meetings will be held in other Pacific regions, but the public can attend them virtually.

Wespac has already expressed its opposition to the proposed sanctuary. In its first council meeting after Biden announced his intent to create a PRIA marine sanctuary, council members, staff and elected officials expressed frustration about the four marine monuments already in the Pacific region or possible sanctuary designations.

It also opposed the expansion of the Papaha­nau­mo­kua­kea Marine National Monument in 2016 and later questioned its conservation benefits.

They argued that fishing, an important part of the culture, subsistence and economies for many Pacific communities, is being hampered by the protected federal waters.

Those arguments haven’t convinced Case, though.

“Wespac, under the current leadership, for dec­ades now has cloaked its intent in all kinds of messages, which are designed to appeal to a broad audience. They’ve claimed unfairness, they’ve claimed exclusion, they’ve claimed anti-commercial sentiments,” Case said.

He said he believes that commercial fishing and conservation can coexist.

“I believe that the ocean is big enough, that the resources are sufficient enough, that we can preserve special places, such as Papahanaumokuakea and the Pacific Remote Islands, in a relatively pristine state … and support a prosperous fishing industry,” he said.

The representative’s letter calls for NOAA to improve its oversight of Wespac and do a better job of holding it accountable. To that end they provided Spinrad with a list of questions it wants answered by Wednesday.

The questions include an explanation of potential actions NOAA is considering to hold the council accountable for improper spending and measures to prevent any future mismanagement of federal money.

Wespac did not respond to a request for comment for this story from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.