June 17, 2026 — To one man, he’s a crook. To another, he’s Robin Hood. He wasn’t in the room, but he was the center of attention.
His name is Carlos Rafael. You might know him as The Codfather.
Three fishing experts and a podcaster drew a crowd of more than 140 to the Whaling Museum on Monday night for “Catching The Codfather,” a live panel discussion about the GBH podcast by the same name. GBH hosted the event in partnership with The Light.
“Catching The Codfather,” delved into the rise and fall of the infamous fishing magnate and what his story reveals about New Bedford’s fishing industry. In 2017, Rafael was convicted of tax evasion and fish mislabeling, among other charges, for a scheme designed to get around fishing quotas. He was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison and required to sell his $100 million fleet.