James Binniker Named New Director of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement

Mr. James Binniker has been selected as the new director of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement. In this new role, Mr. Binniker will lead the agency's work to enforce laws that conserve and protect our nation's protected marine resources, places, and habitats, as well as to advance actions to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and promote sustainable fisheries management. Mr. Binniker will assume his new role on September 23.

As the newly appointed head of the Office of Law Enforcement, Mr. Binniker brings a strong combination of skills and experience. The office is responsible for enforcing more than 35 federal statutes over more than 3 million nautical miles of open ocean, 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline, 16 National Marine Sanctuaries, and Marine National Monuments.

"The breadth of ocean and coast NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement must cover and the number of laws they must enforce are immense; so it's crucial that leadership continue to set priorities and pursue those enthusiastically as we strive to fulfill our sustainability and stewardship missions," said Janet Coit, NOAA's Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries. "With James' extensive enforcement background and incredible level of experience with marine issues nationally and internationally, he will hit the ground running-especially in our ongoing fight against illegal unregulated and unreported fishing globally."

NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement is also responsible for enforcing the laws that implement U.S. treaties and international law. It supports state and territorial cooperation through joint enforcement agreements with 27 coastal states and U.S. territories. It also partners with other agencies, such as the U.S. Coast Guard.

Mr. Binniker joined NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement as the Assistant Director in 2022. In this role, he led a team of foreign affairs specialists, investigative analysts, and special agents. They developed policy and strategic plans to IUU fishing, foreign partner capacity building, and support to field personnel conducting enforcement operations. He also served as the Acting Director from February to July 2024, before resuming his role as Assistant Director.

Prior to coming to NOAA, Mr. Binniker served in the U.S. Coast Guard for 26 years. There, his work ran the gamut of law enforcement, search and rescue, environmental pollution response, and maritime security operations on multiple ships and shore-based commands. His last assignment was as the Chief of the Fisheries Enforcement Division in the Office of Maritime Law Enforcement Policy. He oversaw the strategic direction and performance measurement for Coast Guard units conducting domestic fisheries enforcement, marine resource protection, and counter-IUU fishing operations.

"James' depth of experience in law enforcement, marine resource protection, and maritime security operations is a tremendous asset to the agency. He has nearly 30 years of experience in law enforcement planning, operations, and administration. We are thrilled to have him step into this role," said Emily Menashes, NOAA Fisheries' Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations.

Mr. Binniker holds a Master degree in Marine Affairs from University of Rhode Island and a Certificate in Criminal Investigator Training from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Christopher Newport University.

"I am so pleased to be taking on this role," said Binniker. My priority will be to lead the dedicated staff of NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement to promote compliance with federal laws that support sustainable fisheries and protect marine mammals, endangered species, and National Marine Sanctuaries and continue to develop enforcement partnerships here and abroad so we can level the playing field for honest fishermen."