March 5, 2021 — Justice Amy Coney Barrett issued her first signed majority opinion for the Supreme Court on Thursday, siding with the government over an environmental group seeking draft agenda reports about potential harm to endangered species.
Former BASE auction employees implicate owners in Carlos Rafael scandal
February 26, 2021 — Two former employees of the Buyers and Sellers Exchange (BASE) in New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A. have alleged that the owners – brothers Raymond and Richard Canastra – were aware of and involved in falsifying quotas performed by the “Codfather” Carlos Rafael.
Rafael pleaded guilty in 2017 to falsifying fish quotas, tax evasion, and conspiracy in the wake of allegations he was connected to a criminal fishing scheme involving the evasion of fishing quotas and the smuggling of profits to Portugal. Following the criminal case, a civil case brought by NOAA ensued, which Rafael settled in August 2019.
America’s largest scallop company sues New Bedford over waterfront expansion
February 22, 2021 — Roy Enoksen and his business partner own the largest scallop fleet in the world. Their 27 fishing vessels bring more than 80,000 pounds of seafood into New Bedford each day, employing more than 400 captains, fishermen and support staff.
But a construction project planned by the city’s port authority would cut off water access at one of Enoksen’s boat maintenance facilities.
A lawsuit filed by Enoksen last month has blown the lid off a simmering conflict between New Bedford and one of the largest employers along its waterfront. Enoksen owns multiple businesses that operate in the port, including Eastern Fisheries and Marine Hydraulics, a marine repair company that services his boats.
Mayor Jon Mitchell called the litigation “a veiled attempt to grab valuable land that belongs to the public for the purpose of enhancing the company’s already substantial profits.”
The proposed expansion of New Bedford’s North Terminal would cull more than six acres of fresh land from the harbor using sand dredged from the mouth of the Acushnet River. The dredging would create dozens of new spaces for commercial vessels and remove contaminated sediments that have turned the harbor into a federal Superfund site.
Multi-Agency Investigation Cracks Down on Fish Fraud
February 19, 2021 — The following was released by the Better Seafood Board:
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York has charged four men for their part in an alleged plot to import mislabeled fish into the United States. The defendants were arrested yesterday and will appear before a judge today.
“This is a great example of agencies focusing enforcement efforts on fish fraud and having an impact,” said John Petrizzo Director of Operations for Harbor Seafood, Inc. and Chair of the Better Seafood Board. “Here we see the United States Attorney, Department of Homeland Security, NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement and USDA’s Inspector General all working together to investigate and prosecute these suspects. Dedicating those kinds of resources to a fish fraud case sends a loud and clear message.”
Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent-in-Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh called the suspects part of a “transnational criminal organization.” The scheme allegedly involved bringing mislabeled fish in from Myanmar and Bangladesh for sale through a company called Asia Foods Distributor Inc. The criminal complaint shows law enforcement tracking mislabeled shipments as far back as 2018. Investigators describe the alleged crime as a “very lucrative scheme.”
“We don’t need new laws or more regulations, we need enforcement and that’s what we are seeing today from these federal agencies,” said Petrizzo. “Hats off to them and their efforts to stamp out fish fraud.”
Court revokes general permit for Washington shellfish growers
February 16, 2021 — A court in the state of Washington ruled in favor of a lawsuit to revoke the Clean Water Act general permit for the state’s shellfish farmers last week, shooting down an appeal by Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association (PCSGA).
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the Coalition to Protect Puget Sound filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers last year, and in October of 2019 a federal court upheld the lawsuit, ruling the Corps’ Issuance of Nationwide Permit (NMP) 48 for shellfish farming unlawful.
NC Fisheries Association seeks to intervene in civil suit against state
February 11, 2021 — A seafood industry nonprofit seeks to intervene in a civil case between a conservation group and state fisheries managers.
The N.C. Fisheries Association, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the state seafood industry, filed Jan. 28 in Wake County Superior Court a motion to intervene in the civil complaint filed Nov. 10, 2020, by the Coastal Conservation Association’s North Carolina branch against the state. CCANC, a recreational fishing and conservation nonprofit, alleges state officials have mismanaged coastal fisheries resources.
According to a statement posted Feb. 5 on the NCFA’s website, the association “felt obligated to protect the interest of our members and those who rely on commercial fishermen as their source to access North Carolina seafood.”
“Along with our motion to intervene, we have filed a proposed motion requesting the dismissal of the CCA lawsuit against the state,” the association said. “Regardless of the outcome of these motions, the NCFA will address, in court or publicly, each false claim put forward by the CCA.”
Alaska’s US attorney is investigating something about Pebble, but the target is unclear
February 10, 2021 — The parent company of the proposed Pebble Mine said it’s cooperating with a federal grand jury investigation. The company said the case relates to conversations about the mine that were secretly recorded. But who is being investigated, and for what alleged crime, is not clear.
The company, British Columbia-based Northern Dynasty, issued a statement Friday that leaves a lot unanswered. It said the U.S. Attorney’s office in Alaska issued subpoenas to Pebble Limited Partnership and its former CEO, Tom Collier, requiring them to hand over certain documents.
The statement said the investigation appears related to “previously disclosed recordings of private conversations regarding the Pebble Project.”
That seems to describe the so-called Pebble Tapes, undercover recordings produced last year by an environmental group.
Department of Justice serves subpoenas to Pebble mine developer and former chief executive
February 8, 2021 — The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a grand jury subpoena to the developer of the controversial proposed Pebble mine and the company’s former chief executive as part of an investigation involving already-disclosed private conversations about the project, according to a statement from the project’s parent company.
The Pebble Limited Partnership and its former CEO, Tom Collier, have each been served with a subpoena issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska, according to an online statement from Northern Dynasty Minerals, Pebble’s parent company on Friday.
The company and Collier must “produce documents in connection with a grand jury investigation apparently involving previously disclosed recordings of private conversations regarding the Pebble Project,” the statement said.
North Carolina Fisheries Association Files Motion to Intervene in CCA Lawsuit
February 5, 2021 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:
On Thursday, January 28, 2021 the North Carolina Fisheries Association filed a motion to intervene as a party-defendant in the lawsuit filed against the State of NC by the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) of North Carolina.
On November 10, 2020 the CCA filed a lawsuit alleging that, by allowing the use of gillnets and shrimp trawls, the State has violated the NC Constitution and/or the public trust doctrine by failing to protect our coastal fisheries resources.
Among their many allegations, the CCA claims the State of NC has shown a bias towards the fishing industry by “allowing the commercial fishing industry to dictate or exert a disproportional influence on the States coastal fisheries resources management policies and plans.”
They assert that this alleged bias has, in part, resulted in the mismanagement of our marine resources, violating the public trust doctrine and recreational angler’s constitutional rights.
The CCA’s view – that recreational fishing is a constitutional right which cannot be infringed upon, while commercial fishing is a narrow, limited privilege afforded only by statute – is not a view shared by the NCFA.
We believe all stakeholders, recreational, commercial, and consumer have a right to access our marine resources and a duty to protect them for future generations.
With this in mind the NCFA felt obligated to protect the interest of our members and those who rely on commercial fishermen as their source to access NC seafood.
Along with our motion to intervene we have filed a proposed motion requesting the dismissal of the CCA lawsuit against the State.
Regardless of the outcome of these motions the NCFA will address, in court or publicly, each false claim put forward by the CCA.
If you would like to contribute/donate to NCFA to help with this lawsuit, please make checks payable to:
NCFA Legal Fund
PO Box 86
Morehead City, NC 28557
Oceana, Earthjustice File Suit Again Over NMFS Anchovy Rules on West Coast
February 4, 2021 — Call it a vicious circle. Maybe a vortex from which it seems there is no escape. Maybe it’s quicksand.
Regardless, Earthjustice and Oceana are, for the third time, suing NMFS over the central subpopulation of northern anchovy on the West Coast. NMFS published new anchovy catch limit regulations on Dec. 31, 2020; the conservation groups said those regulations, again, were insufficient.
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