U.S. Coast Guard veteran James Binniker on Sept. 23 took office as director of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, which is charged with protecting the nation’s protected marine resources, places and habitats and promoting sustainable fisheries management.
Prior to joining the Office of Law Enforcement as assistant director in 2022, Binniker served in the Coast Guard for 26 years. 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.
In his last assignment, as the chief of the Fisheries Enforcement Division in the Office of Maritime Law Enforcement Policy, he oversaw Coast Guard units conducting domestic fisheries enforcement, marine resource protection and counter-IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing operations.
Janet Coit, NOAA’s assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, said that given Binniker’s extensive enforcement background and level of experience with marine issues nationally and internationally, he would be able to hit the ground running, especially in the ongoing fight against global IUU fishing.
Binniker holds a master’s degree in marine affairs from the University of Rhode Island and a certificate in Criminal Investigator Training from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. He also has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va.