August 20, 2019 — Now that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has settled its civil claims against Carlos Rafael and 17 of his former fishing captains, look for the wheeling and dealing to intensify for his 43 scallop and groundfish permits and a related 30 fishing vessels.
Almost two years after a federal judge sentenced Rafael to pay $300,000 in fines and restitution and spend 46 months in prison for 28 different criminal counts, including repeatedly lying about his catch to authorities and evading taxes, the 67-year-old, so-called “Codfather” of New Bedford, Massachusetts, reached an agreement on Monday to determine what civil penalties he might also pay.
NOAA budged little from the $3,356,269 it said in September 2018 that it would seek from Rafael, hitting him with a $3,010,633 civil money penalty. However, rather than revoking Rafael’s many limited access permits, as some in the fishing sector desired or even expected, NOAA has given him until Dec. 31, 2020 — about 16 months — to sell them along with the many fishing vessels he owns or controls through transactions reviewed and approved by the agency.