Saving Seafood

JOHN BULLARD: There Is No Silver Bullet for Groundfish

June 16, 2017 — The great philosopher Yogi Berra said, “You can observe a lot by watching.” You can also learn a lot by listening. I try to do a lot of listening. I think it’s the most important part of my job, and of all of our jobs at the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

With all of the activity in the last couple of months, there has certainly been a LOT to listen to. For example, we held recreational roundtable meetings in New Jersey and New Hampshire and a commercial roundtable in New Bedford. We also attended the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council meetings and an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meeting. And let’s not forget the daily meetings, emails, and phone calls with stakeholders.

What did we hear? We heard about recreational catch estimates and allocations among different fishing sectors. We heard reports on the Standardized Bycatch Reduction Methodology and observer coverage for last year and next. We heard progress reports on electronic monitoring projects. And, in every hallway, there has been talk of the Carlos Rafael case and its potential impact on the groundfish industry.

While obviously I can’t comment on the specifics of an ongoing case, I am going to comment on a larger issue that I think is important. To put it briefly: There’s no such thing as a silver bullet.

When people come up to me passionately lamenting that Amendment 18 will not do enough to address consolidation within the groundfish fleet, I understand their passion. The power of a very large fleet can be misused. But, I wonder if they are looking to Amendment 18 to be a silver bullet that will singlehandedly solve this problem.

Some blame sector management for our troubles. I don’t buy it. Instead, I see the ability of the private sector to manage quota with accountability, flexibility, and initiative. All of these are necessary ingredients for a healthy fishing industry, especially in tough times.

At many meetings, people line up to decry the science and management. And yet, some of the same people who condemn the status quo are the ones who advocate for no action. It causes me to wonder whether or not we share the same sense of urgency towards improving the accuracy of our data, which is needed to gain more confidence in our scientific models, which is needed to improve our management. The status quo is short-sighted and leaves us with few options.

I see a system under a lot of stress. When there is a lot of stress, there is a tendency to blame:  Blame the science. Blame woeful observer coverage levels. Blame errors in reporting or illegal discarding. Blame the management. Blame fleet consolidation or the sector system. Blame overfishing over the years. Blame warming ocean waters. Blame NOAA Fisheries. Blame the Councils. Point the finger somewhere.

Just as there is the tendency to blame, there is also the quest for the silver bullet. While understanding causes is essential to providing solutions, an emphasis on blame can be distracting and destructive, especially if the fingers never point in the mirror. The solution is likely to be a network of responses rather than a single answer. A network that will provide accuracy, accountability, and efficiency.

I think that network of answers has several fundamental elements:

  • A renewed management focus on optimum yield and business flexibility that follows on the heels of improved monitoring and complete accountability, and that provides diversity and stability to the groundfish fleet.
  • A revamped Office of Law Enforcement that will continue to help fishermen comply with the rules and root out the few bad apples. Nearly every single fisherman works hard to comply with complicated regulations to bring quality seafood to the consumer. So when the occasional violator decides the rules don’t apply to him, that person is stealing from his neighbors and emboldening others to cheat, and needs to be brought to justice. Our Law Enforcement team is doing just this with increasing efficiency.
  • An improved monitoring program that will provide full accountability and full coverage. The program will tap into emerging technologies with increased use of electronic monitoring coverage by either the “trust but verify model” or “maximized retention/ dockside sampling model.” The resulting increase in accuracy and shared sense of responsibility for effective monitoring and management of this fishery may allow uncertainty buffers to be reduced, which could then allow us to increase quotas.
  • Improved and integrated science that includes fishermen and their insights into the design, implementation, and interpretation of science, a wider understanding of ecosystem changes, and better communication and coordination with stakeholders, all of which ultimately leads to wider acceptance of results. The best science is transparent, timely, adaptable to our rapidly changing environment, and allows us to make better management decisions.

There is no silver bullet. Each of these elements is equally important in transforming the groundfish fishery into a one that provides a stable source of protein for U.S. consumers, and a stable source of jobs for New England fishermen.

New England groundfish is certainly not the only fishery with high profile enforcement cases or challenging scientific questions. But these issues are most acute in groundfish—one of the most iconic and complex fisheries in the world. The fishery has been dealt a series of devastating blows, and the cumulative effects have finally caught up to us.

Yogi Berra also said, “When you come to the fork in the road, take it.” Well we’re at a fork in the road in groundfish management. The status quo has gotten us record low abundance in some stocks, arguments about the science, pressures to discard legal fish that have proven as irresistible to avoid as they are to acknowledge, and all of us skirting the truth in many ways at a cost to the fishery and future generations. Seeking accuracy should not be something that anyone gets penalized for. Rather, we must remove the disincentives for full accountability and full coverage. We have to bring illegal discarding out of the shadows. Talk about it. Acknowledge it. Account for it.

If anyone thinks that the status quo is good enough, then they haven’t been paying attention.

Read the full statement here

Fish council likely give input on Rafael permits

June 13, 2017 — The New England Fishery Management Council could adopt a formal recommendation to NOAA Fisheries on the ultimate redistribution of Carlos Rafael’s groundfish permits when it convenes next week in Portland, Maine.

The council, set to meet next Tuesday through Thursday, faces a busy agenda of items, including a summary of public comments on groundfish monitoring, as well as possible final actions on the coral amendment and the framework dealing with skates.

But the question of what should happen to Rafael’s stable of more than 40 groundfish permits once the New Bedford fishing magnate is sentenced — now scheduled for July 28 — may generate the most heat at the three-day meetings.

“That issue has generated a lot of interest and opinion among the fishing community and the council could develop an official comment that could be positioned in a recommendation letter to (NOAA Fisheries),” said Janice Plante, council spokeswoman.

The council is set to hear from its Groundfish Committee late next Tuesday morning, including a discussion on the interim final rule for 2017 and 2018 fishing sector operation plans and “whether measures or restrictions should be recommended for Sector 9 due to misreporting by sector vessels.”

As part of an agreement with federal prosecutors, Rafael pleaded guilty in late March to falsifying fish quotas, conspiracy and tax evasion. The man known on the docks as “The Codfather” may have to surrender up to 13 of his groundfishing vessels — which continue to fish as members of Northeast Fishing Sector 9 — and will pay almost $109,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

The commercial groundfish industry has roiled over the question of what to do with all of Rafael’s groundfish permits now that he has pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges.

Officials and fishing stakeholders in New Bedford have insisted the permits should remain there, even if divvied up to other groundfishermen. Other stakeholders — such as Maggie Raymond, executive director of the Associated Fisheries of Maine — argue that Rafael should be stripped of all of his permits.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MAGGIE RAYMOND: Carlos Rafael’s Fishing Permits Should be Redistributed

June 5, 2017 — Dear Editor:

Carlos Rafael’s environmental crime spree, spanning two decades, will finally come to an end. Rafael pleaded guilty to federal charges of falsifying fish catch reports, conspiracy and tax evasion. He will serve at least four years in jail and will forfeit millions of dollars in fishing assets. For law-abiding fishermen, this day is long overdue.

While other fishermen were complying with steep reductions in fishing quotas, Rafael decided those rules didn’t apply to him. Rafael’s violations set back groundfish rebuilding requirements, and forced others to compete with his illegal activity on the fishing grounds and in the market. Rafael has harmed the entire groundfish industry, and fishermen from Maine to New York deserve to be compensated.

Rafael’s history is so egregious that the National Marine Fisheries Service is obliged to cancel all his groundfish permits and fishing privileges. Existing regulations describe a process for redistributing the fishing privileges from canceled permits to all other permit holders in the fishery, and this is precisely the process that should be followed in this case.

Maggie Raymond

Executive Director

Associated Fisheries of Maine

South Berwick

Read the letter at The Ellsworth American 

Carlos Rafael wins sentencing delay

May 24, 2017 — The sentencing of New Bedford fishing mogul Carlos Rafael has been moved off another month and he now is expected to hear his fate on July 28 in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Rafael, who pleaded guilty in late March to falsifying fish quotas, conspiracy and tax evasion, requested the extension. He said he needs more time gather and provide the relevant — and voluminous — financial records that are the center of the federal government’s case against him.

Rafael, 65, initially was set to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young on June 27.

“The short continuance requested in this motion will allow Mr. Rafael to complete this process such that the information can be presented in the pre-sentence report and considered at sentencing,” William H. Kettlewell, Rafael’s attorney, wrote in his motion for the extension.

Prosecutors did not oppose the extension.

Under his plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Rafael may have to surrender up to 13 of his groundfishing vessels and must pay almost $109,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

Rafael, known throughout New England as the “Codfather” because of his vast vessel and permit holdings, could face up to 76 months in prison on the three charges — far less than the up to 20 years he would have faced under the original 27-count indictment.

Federal prosecutors have recommended a prison sentence of 46 months and a significant period of supervised release.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

EDF proposes steep fines on Rafael to create ‘Groundfish Monitoring Fund’

May 23, 2017 — Carlos Rafael can do some good for the fishing industry, fishermen and fish stocks he so badly damaged during his decades of fraud, argue Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) leaders Matt Tinning and Johanna Thomas in a recent opinion piece in South Coast Today. 

“Leaders in the fishing industry have made two demands that we support: Carlos Rafael should never again be allowed to fish, and his groundfish quota should be redistributed to other participants in the fishery who were among his victims. We propose a third remedy: He should face steep fines and asset seizures proportionate to his crimes, and the proceeds should be used to fix system failures that allowed his criminality to flourish.”

Specifically, they call for the creation of a a Groundfish Monitoring Fund. Tinning is senior director of the EDF’s US oceans program; and Thomas is the New England regional director for EDF.

They argue, “One of the major causes of the New England cod crisis, and a key enabler of Rafael’s crimes, is inadequate monitoring of the groundfish fleet,” they state in the article. “Only one out of 10 groundfish boats carries an at-sea observer, and there are no monitors to document catch when fishermen bring their harvest to land. As a result, participants in the fishery can’t have confidence that all are abiding by fishing rules, and little accurate information on fishing activity exists upon which to base harvest limits. It is no wonder that Rafael’s massive fraud went undetected for so long, or that this fishery has one of the worst records of stock recovery in the country.

“A Groundfish Monitoring Fund could turn this fishery around. In other places, like the U.S. Pacific and British Columbia, successful groundfish monitoring programs have helped resuscitate stocks and put fishermen on a level playing field. There are growing calls for New England to adopt similar innovations, and the Fishery Management Council recently kicked off an amendment process that could get this done. A major remaining challenge, however, is the cost burden of effective monitoring. If a Groundfish Monitoring Fund could overcome that hurdle by helping underwrite costs, it could be a historic breakthrough.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

EDF: Rafael’s assets should be seized, fund fishery restoration

May 21, 2017 — After decades of fraud, Carlos Rafael can finally do some good for the fishing industry, fishermen and fish stocks he so badly damaged.

Mr. Rafael reaped tens of millions of dollars, mislabeling millions of pounds of fish to mislead regulators and exceed quota limits. In the process, he was not just breaking the law — he was undermining sustainability in the New England groundfish fishery, cheating his fellow fishermen of their future.

Mr. Rafael amassed an empire of more than 40 fishing boats and 44 fishing permits, making his one of the largest commercial fishing companies in the country. Now, having pleaded guilty to a raft of charges including false labeling, conspiracy and tax evasion, he faces the potential for serious jail time when he is sentenced on June 27. But that should just be the beginning. NOAA, the IRS and the federal judge in this case have an unprecedented opportunity to dispense justice in a way that can transform this iconic fishery.

Leaders in the fishing industry have made two demands that we support: Carlos Rafael should never again be allowed to fish, and his groundfish quota should be redistributed to other participants in the fishery who were among his victims. We propose a third remedy: He should face steep fines and asset seizures proportionate to his crimes, and the proceeds should be used to fix system failures that allowed his criminality to flourish.

Specifically, we are calling for the creation of a Groundfish Monitoring Fund. One of the major causes of the New England cod crisis, and a key enabler of Rafael’s crimes, is inadequate monitoring of the groundfish fleet. Only 1 out of 10 groundfish boats carries an at-sea observer, and there are no monitors to document catch when fishermen bring their harvest to land. As a result, participants in the fishery can’t have confidence that all are abiding by fishing rules, and little accurate information on fishing activity exists upon which to base harvest limits. It is no wonder that Rafael’s massive fraud went undetected for so long, or that this fishery has one of the worst records of stock recovery in the country.

A Groundfish Monitoring Fund could turn this fishery around. In other places, like the U.S. Pacific and British Columbia, successful groundfish monitoring programs have helped resuscitate stocks and put fishermen on a level playing field. There are growing calls for New England to adopt similar innovations, and the Fishery Management Council recently kicked off an amendment process that could get this done. A major remaining challenge, however, is the cost burden of effective monitoring. If a Groundfish Monitoring Fund could overcome that hurdle by helping underwrite costs, it could be a historic breakthrough.

Read the full opinion piece at the New Bedford Standard-Times

JOHN PAPPALARDO: What justice looks like for our fisheries

May 20, 2017 — The high-profile arrest of Carlos Rafael followed by his guilty plea to lying about the fish he caught and sold is final proof of the existence of a devastating rogue wave that has battered the historic New England fishery.

Rafael tainted an entire industry, making fools of hardworking, honest fishermen who have been playing by the rules under increasingly difficult circumstances.

It’s entirely possible that his illegal reporting distorted the scientific analysis that powered our fish population assessments. By mislabeling depleted species and selling them as abundant species, Rafael kept scientists from making honest estimates of how much fish actually was in the water. Public policy was built on bad assumptions, which in turn created double damage — lowering limits on the amount of fish honest fishermen were allowed to bring to shore while at the same time stealing the resource we are all committed to rebuilding.

Now comes the crucial question: What does justice look like in the aftermath of an admitted economic and environmental crime of this magnitude?

First, Carlos Rafael should be banned from commercial fishing, forever.

Second, the fishing quota he owns (pounds of fish allowed to be landed each year) should be redistributed to all of the fishermen in our region, because they are the ones most damaged by his criminal enterprise.

Third, additional revenue on his assets, whether from outright confiscation and sale, or fines and penalties, should be used to fund major improvements in how our fisheries are monitored and studied. This is the only way to assure that the same thing won’t keep happening over and over again, to protect honest fishermen and to revive fish populations.

While most fishermen are hardworking and law-abiding, making a living in a dangerous but gratifying way, we need to acknowledge that Rafael is not the only person to game the system (though he’s likely the worst). This is the moment to learn from what he was able to pull off and shut the door on anyone who aims to steal public resources from the ocean, other fishermen and the American public.

By Rafael’s own estimation, his fleet is worth between $75 million and $100 million. In the plea bargain proposed in return for his guilty plea, only 20 percent of his holdings (13 vessels and permits worth about $15 million) would be confiscated. This would leave him with $60 million or more of assets.

Read the full opinion piece at the Cape Cod Times

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD: Catching ‘The Codfather’ should just be first step

May 15, 2017 — Two years ago, Carlos Rafael let it be known that he was ready to sell his New Bedford, Massachusetts-based fishing fleet and wholesale seafood dealership, a business that had combined assets of about $20 million.

But in a meeting with a couple of potential buyers from Russia, Rafael said the real asking price was $175 million and he assured them it would be well worth it. Pulling a ledger labeled “cash” from his desk drawer, the fishing mogul showed how he was able to falsify records to get around both tax law and fishing regulations, netting him millions of dollars in unreported income derived from systematically violating conservation limits.

But the buyers turned out to be undercover agents. And that’s how the feds finally caught up with “The Codfather.”

On March 30, Rafael pleaded guilty in federal court to a 28-count indictment that included charges of tax evasion, falsifying fishing quotas and conspiracy. He is facing up to six years in prison at his sentencing next month, but how much time he will spend behind bars is only one of the many questions that need to be resolved.

What will happen to his fishing fleet and its associated permits? Thirteen boats were connected with the indictment, and they are subject to seizure. But what about the rest of his 40-vessel fleet and wholesale business, which is still operating?

Read the full opinion piece at the Portland Press Herald

JOHN PAPPALARDO: Rafael Should be Permanently Banned from Fishing, Redistribution of Quota

May 15, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Carlos Rafael pled guilty to running a massive criminal enterprise that stole from honest fishermen and undermined the fisheries as a whole.  One of his quotes offers a revealing insight into his perspective:

“This is America; anything can happen, with money behind it.”

Let’s put his money to work fixing the fishery he badly damaged.

Carlos Rafael should be banned from commercial fishing forever. The fish quota he owns should be redistributed to all the fishermen he harmed. That’s what existing regulations mandate, that’s what many in the industry believe, and we agree.

But we can demand and expect more. Honest fishermen have not been playing on a level field with the likes of Carlos. We need to make sure they aren’t put in that position again.

To do that, we must invest some of his illegal gains in fishing’s future by improving dockside monitoring, expanding electronic monitoring and increasing fishermen-scientist collaborations to get better fish counts.

We can transform this moment into an opportunity to create the oversight and infrastructure necessary to make honest, long-term success possible for our iconic fishery.

This can happen, and Carlos Rafael’s money should be behind it.

This letter originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission. 

HANK SOULE: Rafael: Punishment should fit the crimes

May 9, 2017 — New Bedford fishing mogul Carlos Rafael has now pleaded guilty to a suite of felonies including tax evasion, smuggling fish to shore and cash offshore, false federal reporting, and evading quotas. The Justice Department has worked up a plea deal including four years in prison and seizure of some boats and permits. That suffices for the cash-related crimes, and thanks goes to law enforcement for their long, hard work and the penalties imposed. But it’s not enough.

Rafael has a multi-decadal history of lawbreaking. In 2016 the Boston Globe reported, “Rafael has a history of crime related to his business. He served a six-month prison term for tax evasion in the 1980s and was charged with price-fixing in 1994, though he was acquitted in that case, according to court records. He was also convicted of making false statements on landing slips for commercial fishing vessels in 2000 and was sentenced to probation, according to court records.”

That’s not the half of it. The National Maine Fisheries Service has record of 20 separate admitted violations over the last two decades involving Rafael’s vessels and corporations. They include sub-legal net mesh sizes, missing fishing day declarations and under-counting, quota violations, false reporting, and concealing illicit catch. The boats and scams varied but they all have one common thread: The name “Rafael” stamped on the corporate documentation.

It is no stretch to stipulate that this record, along with the recent case at hand, constitutes prima-facie evidence of repeated, willful, and egregious criminal activity on the part of Rafael. These violations caused unknown harm to fishery resources — by statute, property of the people of the United States — and to all the law-abiding fishermen who have suffered under increasingly stringent regulations (or been forced out of the business entirely). The question at hand is: How to protect the victims and environment alike from this serial offender?

Here’s the rest of the story: In addition to the 13 vessels and permits to be seized, Rafael has another eight vessels and 25 permits still enrolled in the groundfishery. The government has not proposed to restrict those vessels in any way. There are no known sanctions on the offending captains. No additional monitoring of those vessels is planned. In other words: It’s pretty much business as usual, and for Rafael while the loss of those 13 vessels is unfortunate, it’s just one of the costs of engaging in smuggling.

Read the full opinion piece at National Fisherman