WNN Exclusive: Whistleblowers Key to Fish and Wildlife Service Operation Which Busted Illegal Sturgeon and Paddlefish Fishing Operation

Washington, DC  October 24, 2023. In August 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awarded two whistleblowers $2,000 each for the critical role they played in the success of Operation Muddy Waters, an investigation into illegal sturgeon and paddlefish fishing in the Ohio River.

​​​​​​​The existence of these awards was made known to Whistleblower Network News through documentation obtained from FWS in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

According to FWS, the culprits’ “illegal fishing operations caused significant damage to both sturgeon and paddlefish populations in the Mississippi River and the Ohio River.” In its award order, FWS further notes that “given the [whistleblowers’] position[s], connections and expertise, this investigation would not have been successfully developed and prosecuted without [their] assistance.”

FWS has never publicly acknowledged these whistleblower award payments. In contrast, other agencies with whistleblower award programs, such as the SEC, widely publicize whistleblower award payments.

“It is a missed opportunity to not publicize successful whistleblower awards,” says whistleblower attorney Stephen M. Kohn, a leading expert on wildlife whistleblower law. “Highlighting award payments is a crucial way to inform the public about the opportunity to receive an award in exchange for voluntarily providing key information about wildlife crimes.”

WNN’s exclusive reporting on the FWS’s Whistleblower Program covers its overall use of whistleblower awards as well as the details of specific cases aided by whistleblowers. Read the complete series of articles at Whistleblower Network News.