NEW ORLEANS — An audit released Monday identifies a host of weaknesses in a state board’s oversight of a BP-funded seafood marketing campaign after the company’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

A report issued by state Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera’s office says the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board’s former executive director approved transactions without adequate board oversight. Ewell Smith resigned as executive director in August after lawmakers placed Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne in charge of overseeing the program.

The audit also concluded that the board’s staff did not keep adequate records for the use of tickets and other merchandise associated with a $650,000 advertising agreement with the New Orleans Saints.

In the aftermath of the April 2010 well blowout that led to the nation’s worst offshore oil spill, BP agreed to pay $30 million to fund the marketing program through the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation.

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