March 2, 2016 — Paul Haertel of the JCAA reports the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council will be meeting at 4PM on Thursday, March 3rd at the Galloway Township Public Library, 306 E Jimmie Leeds Rd, Galloway, NJ 08205. The regulations for fluke and sea bass are expected to be set at this meeting. Though public comment will be accepted, it appears that there will only be one regulatory option offered for each species. The NJ Bureau of Marine Fisheries worked hard to develop various options. They were tweaked a little at the Advisers meeting and the end result was that a clear majority of advisers supported the following options.
North Carolina Fisheries Association Releases Catch Summit info
March 2, 2016 — One final reminder about the NC Catch Summit coming up next week! This appeal is for all fishermen and interested folks. The Secretary of DEQ, the Deputy Secretary and the Acting Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries will be in attendance at the Clambake on Monday night!!
Please try to attend the Clambake and/or the event during the day on Tuesday in Beaufort. There is no charge for attending!
The Dinner & the Summit are completely free but you have to register (for the head count) at: email:
or call Rosemary Johnson at 252.926.4474.
Monday * March 7 * Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center; Harkers Island
5:30-8:30 Carteret Catch Down East Clambake & Frogmore Stew Dinner
Speaker: Wes Stepp, owner of Red Sky Cafe & author of “Tastefully Fit”
*Free trolley service will be available from the Beaufort Inn to the Museum
Tuesday * March 8 * Auditorium, NC Maritime Museum, 315 Front Street; Beaufort
8:30-9:00 Registration * Coffee & pastries
9:00-9:15 Host Welcome * Pam Morris, President, Carteret Catch
Conference Welcome * Jimmy Johnson, President, NC Catch
9:15-10:00 NC Commercial Fisheries: Economic Values, Trends, & Growth Potential
Presenter: Dr. Jane Harrison, Coastal Economics Specialist, North Carolina Sea Grant
10:00-10:15 Break
10:15-11:00 Sett ing Seafood Trends: How Chefs Do It
Moderator: Libby Eaton, Bistro-By-The-Sea
Panelists: Jeff Barney, Saxapahaw General Store; Wes Stepp, Red Sky Cafe; and Sandy Howard, Amos Mosquitos
11:00-11:45 Ocracoke Island: A Case Study of Successful Seafood Tourism
Moderator: Alton Ballance, NCCAT
Panelists: Hardy & Patt y Plyler, Ocracoke Fish Company; Vince O’ Neal, Pony Island Restaurant; TBA
11:45-12:30 Diamonds in the Rough: Local Success Stories
Moderator: Jess Hawkins, Carolina Eco-Tours
Panelists: Eddie & Alison Willis, Mr. Big/Core Sound Seafood; Fabian Botta, Ruddy Duck Tavern; and Mark Hooper, Hooper Family Seafood
12:30-2:00 Lunch – Generously sponsored by Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative
2:00-2:45 Cultivating Customers: Insights from Retail Seafood Markets
Moderator: John Day, Center for Environmental Farming Systems, NC State University
Panelists: Haag & Son’s Seafood; Fishtowne Seafood; TBA
2:45-3:00 Break
3:00-3:45 NC Seafood: It Tastes Great & It’s Good for You Too!
Presenters: Dr. David Green, NCSU; Candace Morris, ECU graduate student; and Sue Way, East Carteret High School
3:45:4:00 2016 NC Catch Summit Conclusion: Pam Morris and Jimmy Johnson
4:00-4:30 Networking and information tables available
Fishermen, restaurant, retail & wholesale folks who are able are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity and attend part or all of it. There are accommodations available at Beaufort Inn (1.800.726.0321) at a very reasonable rate, if needed.
Carlos Rafael released on $1M bond, puts home and business up for collateral
March 2, 2015 — New Bedford fishing magnate Carlos Rafael will be allowed to return to his Dartmouth home under strict bond conditions and to continue working while facing federal conspiracy and falsification charges, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Rafael and his wife agreed to place their home on Tucker Road in North Dartmouth and the Carlos Seafood building, on South Front Street in New Bedford, as collateral for the $1 million bond. Prosecutors said the total value of the two properties is about $900,000.
Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy warned Rafael sternly during his detention hearing in U.S. District Court in Worcester that any violation of his bond could result in a warrant for his arrest and the loss of his home and business property.
“If you fail to comply with any of these conditions, the government can take that property away from you,” Hennessy said.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times
MAINE: Questioning our Changing Oceans’ panel discussion at forum
March 1, 2016 — Climate change and its impact on the ocean and the fishing industry is the topic of the March 3 session of the Maine Fishermen’s Forum, the Boothbay Register reported.
Thursday’s session will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Samoset Resort in Rockport.
“As a fisherman, I’m seeing things on the water that I have never experienced before, and I have questions about what this means that I can’t easily answer.” Gerry Cushman, a lobsterman out of Port Clyde and board member for the Maine Fishermen’s Forum, told the newspaper. “I spend most of my life on the water so the Maine Fishermen’s Forum is one of the few times, as a fisherman, I have the time to focus on the future of my industry.”
Read the full story at Maine Biz
Maine DMR to Issue Third Round of Federal Disaster Relief Funds for Groundfishermen
March 1, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:
The Maine Department of Marine Resources will soon be issuing the third and final payment to thirty-two Maine-homeported commercial Northeast Multispecies (groundfish) permit holders who are eligible to receive direct assistance under federal disaster relief funding.
To be eligible, Maine-homeported groundfish permit holders must have landings of over 5000 pounds in any one Fishing Year from 2010-2013. In addition, permit holders must have landed a minimum of 5000 pounds of groundfish in either Fishing Year 2013 or 2014.
“The intent of these criteria is to focus disaster relief efforts on permit holders who have historical dependence on groundfish and have had continued reliance on the groundfish fishery during the disaster years,” said Maine DMR Deputy Commissioner Meredith Mendelson. “We know that Maine’s groundfish industry has seen declines in many years preceding this disaster declaration. However, the Secretary of Commerce’s declaration was made based on what were, at the time, prospective revenue losses from the major reduction in Gulf of Maine cod quota available for the 2013 fishing year. Accordingly, our allocation of relief funds reflects the impact of that specific reduction.”
The amounts allocated to eligible permit holders were based on a formula developed by the Maine Department of Marine Resources after several outreach meetings with industry. Amounts issued will reflect landings in Fishing Years 2013 and 2014 individually and combined.
Awards under this formula will range from approximately $9,100 to $44,044.
The funds are a portion of the $3.3 million allocated to Maine from the $75 million allocated by U.S. Congress to help with six fishery disasters, including the disaster declared in 2012 by the Secretary of Commerce as a result of significant quota cuts for key New England groundfish stocks.
Of the $75 million, $32.8 million was allocated to the Northeast groundfish industry. The allocation of those funds was negotiated among the state fisheries agency directors and announced in June, 2014.
The agreement split the $32.8 million evenly, allocating a third of the funds to each of three areas. $11 million was paid out as direct aid to permit holders in the northeast who have landed a minimum of 5000 pounds of groundfish stocks in any one fishing year since 2010.
In October, 2014, fifty-two of Maine’s federal groundfish permit holders received $32,500 each. In 2015, the DMR distributed $640,005 to help Maine’s groundfish fleet and related shoreside industries by rebating dealer landings and handling fees.
NORTH CAROLINA: Director of Marine Fisheries resigns abruptly
February 29, 2016 — In a move that surprised commercial and recreational fishermen alike, Dr. Louis Daniel, III resigned as director of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries this afternoon.
John Evans, chief deputy secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality sent an e-mail to all NCDEQ personnel that Daniel had stepped down, effective immediately, and that Col. Jim Kelley of the N.C. Marine Patrol would serve as acting director until a replacement for Daniel is selected.
Daniel, who received his B.A. in Biology from Wake Forest University, a M.S. in Marine Science from the College of Charleston, and a Ph.D. in Marine Science from the College of William and Mary, School of Marine Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, followed Preston Pate as the DMF director on Feb. 1, 2007.
Daniel worked a year with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before joining DMF as a biological supervisor in 1995. Before being appointed director, he served nine years as an executive assistant to director Pate, working extensively with the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC). Daniel served as chairman of the SAFMC from 2004 to 2006.
Daniel began as the North Carolina commissioner to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in 2007 and was elected ASMFC Chair in 2013. He is a recipient of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Distinguished Service Award and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Outstanding Service Award.
MASSACHUSETTS: Gloucester hooked to New Bedford fish fraud case?
February 29, 2016 — GLOUCESTER — The stunning arrest of New Bedford fishing mogul Carlos Rafael last Friday on federal conspiracy and fraud charges may have a Gloucester connection.
The affidavit submitted in support of the federal criminal complaint against Rafael and bookkeeper Debra Messier by Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Ronald Mullett, one of the undercover operatives involved in stinging Rafael, includes an oblique reference to Gloucester.
The reference takes place in a quote attributed to a New York man that federal investigators allege to be the wholesale buyer of Rafael’s illicit, off-the-books fish. The man initially is referred to only as “Michael,” but later in the affidavit also is called “Perretti.”
During the discussion, according to the affidavit, the talk turned to laundering money.
Gloucester talk
“During the meeting, the UCs (undercover agents) also told Perretti that they had cash on hand from an insurance fraud they perpetuated,” according to the affidavit. “Perretti explained that he could launder money from the UCs, suggesting he could reach out to individuals he used to charge 15 percent in the past.”
MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford fish fraud case underscores need for greater NOAA monitoring
February 29, 2016 — BOSTON — Fraud charges against the owner of a prominent New Bedford fishing company highlight the need for greater enforcement of fishery regulations, according to an environmental group.
Carlos Rafael, owner of 40 fishing vessels in New Bedford and Gloucester as well as Carlos Seafood, was arrested on Friday on charges his organization lied about the species of fish landed, and he smuggled cash out of the country.
Among other allegations, federal authorities said Rafael told undercover agents he had assistance from a local law enforcement officer who helped him move cash through the airport to Portugal.
Accused of circumventing federal quotas by labeling dabs and other fish as haddock – where Rafael said he has a 15-million-pound quota – Rafael regularly shipped the mislabeled fish to a buyer in New York City, according to federal officials.
“Because it is nearly impossible to monitor what fishing vessels do out at sea, commercial fishing vessels are required to comply with various reporting requirement,” the 18-page affidavit by Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Ronald Mullett states.
Rafael told undercover agents posing as Russian mobsters interested in buying the business that co-defendant Debra Messier had “been in the life” with him for 30 years and everyone in the company “knows the scheme,” according to the complaint.
According to the affidavit in support of a criminal complaint Rafael was previously convicted of tax evasion in the 1980s, acquitted of price-fixing in 1994 and convicted of making false statements on fishing vessels’ landing slips in 2000. Messier is his bookkeeper and both live in Dartmouth, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. According to the Boston Globe, Rafael was held without bail pending a detention hearing on Wednesday and Messier was released from custody on $10,000 unsecured bond.
MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fishing Industry Helping to Protect the Environment
February 29, 2016 — The following was released by the Office of Mayor Jon Mitchell:
New Bedford, Fairhaven and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) are working together with the fishing industry and other commercial vessel operators to prevent oil spills and keep New Bedford Harbor, home of America’s No. 1 Fishing Port, clean through the “Clean Bilge Program.”
New Bedford Harbor is home to more than 400 fishing vessels that harvest the sea and many seafood processing plants and other businesses that support the fishing industry are also located in New Bedford and Fairhaven. The Port of New Bedford is an important economic engine for New Bedford, Fairhaven and the region. With so much commercial activity in New Bedford Harbor (including 400 fishing vessels, 4,400 jobs, seafood landings valued at $329 million, as well as more than 30 processors and distributors) small oil spills became a frequent occurrence, and have threatened collaborative efforts to clean and improve water quality in the harbor.
According to recent U.S. Coast Guard data, there has been at least one recorded small oil spill in New Bedford Harbor each month since 2010 and contaminated bilge water is considered the most likely source of these spills. The vast majority of these spills are small, but even a single cup of oil has the potential to contaminate a football field-sized area.
However, an innovative pilot program to prevent oil spills is changing the tide and improving the health of the New Bedford Harbor. Funded by MassDEP and operated by the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission (HDC), Clean Bilge works directly with commercial fishing vessel operators and the operators of other commercial vessels to prevent oil spills.
An agent of the City’s Harbor Development Commission connects directly with vessel owners on both the New Bedford and Fairhaven sides of the harbor and provides advice on how to avoid oil leaks, refuel safely and maintain a clean bilge. In addition to helpful guidance, vessel owners can receive bilge pumping – the removal of unwanted water that can become contaminated with oil and collects in the lowest part of all vessels.
Since the program began in October of 2015, more than 120 vessels have signed up to participate, 48 vessels have had their bilge pumped and 14,117 gallons of oily bilge water was recovered and properly disposed of and kept out of New Bedford Harbor.
“The Port of New Bedford is one of Greater New Bedford’s most important economic assets and we are working on many fronts to ensure that New Bedford Harbor continues to be a strong asset for our region and protecting its environmental health is a critical component of our efforts. I am encouraged at the number of vessels that have signed up for the program thus far and thank the participating vessels for being good stewards of the environment,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell.
“Following the Buzzards Day oil spill, MassDEP has helped New Bedford and coastal communities respond to oil spills with funding for new cleanup equipment and response plans that protect sensitive resources,” said MassDEP Deputy Commissioner Gary Moran. “Now, with the new clean bilge pilot program, we are reaching out directly to vessel owners with a preventative measure that aims to stop spills before they happen.”
“The persistent “mystery” oil spill problem has no place in the New Bedford Harbor we are all working so hard to restore every day. The Buzzards Bay Coalition is excited to be a partner in this voluntary effort to improve bilge oil management. It has been wonderful to see the positive response and commitment from fishing vessel owners to cleaning up the Harbor,” said Mark Rasmussen, President, Buzzards Bay Coalition
More than 120 commercial vessels have signed up to participate in the program and each receives a complimentary inspection and specific recommendations on preventing oil spills. Rodney Avila, a former commercial fisherman from New Bedford was hired by the HDC to lead the program. Port Director, Edward Anthes-Washburn said, “By working with fishermen we have prevented countless oil spills and are maintaining a cleaner harbor. I think the education component of this program has been critical to the success we’ve had thus far.”
New York DEC Reports Recovery Signs for Atlantic Sturgeon
February 29, 2016 — A joint Federal and State 2015 Juvenile Atlantic Sturgeon Survey shows the highest number of Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson River in the 10-year history of the survey and the trend of the results show an increasing juvenile sturgeon abundance (see chart below), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos has announced.
“Juvenile Atlantic sturgeon are at the highest level recorded in the Hudson River in the last 10 years. These survey results are an encouraging sign for the recovery of Atlantic sturgeon,” Acting Commissioner Seggos said. “We are cautiously optimistic that, with our continued vigilance and efforts to protect this species, Atlantic sturgeon will have a secure future.”
Commercial fishing rates for Atlantic sturgeon exceeded the ability of the fish to replenish themselves in the late 1980s and early 1990s. New York led the way in conservation through implementation of a harvest moratorium for Atlantic sturgeon in 1996. In 1998, an amendment of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic sturgeon resulted in a coast wide moratorium on Atlantic sturgeon harvest for 40 years and aimed to protect two generations of females in each spawning stock.
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