Saving Seafood

Fate of boats owned by Carlos Rafael heading to court

February 3, 2021 — A legal dispute over the sale of fishing boats once owned by a disgraced former fishing magnate nicknamed “The Codfather” is headed to state court in Massachusetts this month.

It’s the latest development in a waterfront saga that has dragged on for years in one of busiest fishing ports in the country. Carlos Rafael, whose fishing operations were based out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, was once the owner of one of the largest commercial fishing operations in the U.S.

Rafael was sentenced to nearly four years in prison in 2017 for dodging quotas and smuggling profits overseas. The result of the government’s case against Rafael included forced divestiture of his assets and a permanent ban from commercial fishing.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Star Tribune

Sen. Rubio fishing for review of red snapper ban

June 28, 2016 — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who chairs the Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard, called Monday for the U.S. Department of Commerce to review the decision to close the South Atlantic to red snapper fishing for a second consecutive year.

“The economic benefit to my home state of Florida, along with other states that fall under the South Atlantic, cannot be overstated,” wrote Rubio, a candidate for re-election, in a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Acting Inspector General David Smith.

Read the full story from the News Service of Florida at WWSB