Saving Seafood

New manual outlines steps for fishermen, communities to take in crisis

GLOUCESTER, Mass. (March 25, 2016) — The concept first began to crystallize in Angela Sanfilippo’s mind about four years ago, when the president of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association realized she needed to start putting some things down on paper.

Sanfilippo, both in her roles with fishing-based community groups and her own experience as a wife, daughter and sister of fishermen, had helped develop a series of protocols to help fishermen avoid calamities on the water and help the Gloucester fishing community deal with fishing tragedies when they occur.

“I just thought that we should start putting these things in writing because we’re not going to be around forever,” Sanfilippo said.

Thus was born the idea that burst into reality Thursday when the Fishing Partnership Support Services unveiled its RESCUES manual in an event at the U.S. Coast Guard’s Station Gloucester.

The title of the manual, assembled with assistance from staffers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sea Grant College program and Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is an acronym for “Responding to Emergencies at Sea and to Communities Under Extreme Stress.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Proposed fishing framework: Something for everyone to hate

March 23, 2016 — NOAA Fisheries has opened the public comment period for the proposed management rule that includes withering cuts to several groundfish species and reductions in the overall level of at-sea monitoring (ASM) coverage for the beleaguered groundfish fleet.

It seems the proposed rule, also known as Framework 55, has a little bit of something for everyone to hate. They have until close of business on April 5 to submit their comments to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Environmental groups, such as Oceana, are bitterly criticizing the projected reduction in ASM for groundfish boats to about 14 percent from about 24 percent, saying the rule will “weaken the chances of recovery for this historic fishery.”

Fishermen point to the further reductions in what they already consider minuscule catch quotas and say those reductions — combined with the absorption of the costs for ASM — could finally be the management initiative that shutters the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery for good.

Savage quota cuts

The catch limits, set by the NOAA Fisheries for the 2016 fishing season that begins May 1, include savage cuts to the annual catch limits for gray sole (55 percent), Georges Bank cod (66 percent), northern windowpane flounder (33 percent) and Gulf of Maine yellowtail flounder (26 percent).

“We will not have a fishery as we know it anymore,” Vito Giacalone, policy director for the Northeast Seafood Coalition, said on Tuesday. “In fact, I think you can already make the case that we don’t have a fishery you can recognize now compared to any period in the past.”

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: A National Marine Monument for New England? Maritime Gloucester Talk

March 23, 2016 — A National Marine Monument for New England. Should the President designate the Cashes Ledge Closed Area and the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts as the first Marine National Monument in the Atlantic? Come and hear experts Vito Giacalone from the Northeast Seafood Coalition and Peter Shelley of Conservation Law Foundation tackle the issues and the controversies surrounding Presidential action. A Panel with Vito Giacalone, Volunteer Chair of Governmental Affairs, Northeast Seafood Coalition and Peter Shelley, Senior Counsel, Conservation Law Foundation Massachusetts, with moderator, Sean Horgan, Gloucester Daily Times. Recorded at Maritime Gloucester on 3/3/2016

Watch the full video at Cape Ann TV

STATE REP. BILL STRAUS: Impact of the federal fisheries arrests in New Bedford

March 22, 2016 — By now the local reaction to the waterfront arrests in New Bedford of one of the port’s major figures has begun to shift to inevitable questions of the role of the federal government in the regulation of commercial fishing. Operating under federal law, the current groundfish system of control, the so-called “catch shares” plan, began with Amendment 16 in 2009 by vote of the New England Fishery Management Council. This intricate system of allocating by fish species what can be caught and landed by licensed federal permit holders has clearly changed the market economics for New England fishing; a rapid concentration of fish permit holders has led to what functions as a government-created near monopoly. The fact that a single owner now controls at least 40 New England groundfish permits means that one person’s actions, whether driven by good or bad motives, reverberates through the regional economy.

We need to remember that this discussion is critical to the future of our port, and in my mind is distinct from the ultimate guilt or innocence of those charged to date. The presumption of innocence holds for anyone accused of a crime and they are entitled to a vigorous defense on their behalf. Regardless of the outcome of those proceedings, however, our port’s future depends on candidly looking at whether there has been a detrimental role played by the government’s regulations and how we got to this point. After all, the Port of New Bedford has a key role in the movement of seafood nationally; NOAA statistics for 2014 identify the port’s product value for landings at $327 million overall of which $251 million is from scallops. Using a conservative economic multiplier, the value to our local economy is over $600 million a year. By comparison, Gloucester’s seafood dollar value is only one-seventh of ours at $46 million during the same period.

The public documents now available online growing out of the New Bedford prosecutions point to a pattern of deceptive behavior where catch share quotas for specific types of fish were allegedly misreported for private economic gain. Because this type of behavior is alleged to be overseen by someone who owns and controls the most permits, the local groundfish industry in New Bedford is therefore more vulnerable and susceptible. That is a departure from history, where a diverse port economy relied on the decisions of many stakeholders. I don’t believe this concentration is a good thing for the overwhelming majority of those who look to and depend upon the seafood industry. Whatever is occurring at sea with respect to the science of habitat quality, species survival and sustainability is one thing; its quite another for a port’s success or failure to be put in jeopardy as a result of a narrow band of ownership encouraged by the Federal regulations adopted to protect the fisheries.

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

Study eyes fisheries for menhaden— a key forage fish

March 21, 2016 — Gloucester, Mass. — Interstate fishing managers will commission a study of the commercial fisheries for Atlantic menhaden, an important forage fish that is caught all along the East Coast.

Menhaden are an important bait fish and are also caught for use as fish oil and fish meal. States from Maine to Florida have been the site of commercial fisheries for menhaden in the past ten years.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The San Francisco Chronicle

New tool to help industry deal with fishing disasters

March 21, 2016 — The Fishing Partnership Support Services has developed a new manual to help fishermen prepare for potential crises on the water and to serve as a blueprint for communities dealing with fishing tragedies.

The manual, which the fishing advocacy organization assembled with help from researchers from Harvard University’s School of Public Health and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will be unveiled Thursday afternoon at an event scheduled at the U.S. Coast Guard’s Station Gloucester.

“It’s something that we’ve been working on for a while,” said J.J. Bartlett, executive director of the Fishing Partnership Support Services. “The fishing communities, such as Gloucester, have developed incredible networks of support for people performing these most dangerous jobs and we wanted to come up with a standard operating procedure manual that everyone involved can use.”

Bartlett said the five-chapter manual will be available via free download from the Fishing Partnership Support Services website, as well as by hand-outs.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Intro Planned for First-Ever RESCUES Manual for Commercial Fishing Industry

March 21, 2016 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — The following was released by Fishing Partnership Support Services:

Two organizations serving commercial fishermen in Massachusetts will hold an event in Gloucester this week to introduce a comprehensive guidebook on dealing with a crisis in a fishing community.

The new RESCUES manual will be presented publicly for the first time by the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership and Fishing Partnership Support Services during a press conference at the Gloucester Coast Guard Station, 17 Harbor Loop, on Thursday, March 24, at 2:00 P.M. On-site parking will be available.

RESCUES is an acronym for the title of the manual: Responding to Emergencies at Sea and to
Communities Under Extreme Stress.

A wealth of information has been consolidated within RESCUES to help prepare individuals, groups and entire communities for a crisis affecting members of the commercial fishing industry, such as the sinking of a boat or the search for crew members lost overboard at sea.

“The idea is that, when a crisis occurs, folks in our fishing ports will be able to consult the manual and know right away how the Coast Guard and other authorities are responding — and where they can turn for reliable information and support,” said J.J. Bartlett, President of Fishing Partnership Support Services.

Also, Bartlett said, the manual describes “how families may access services and resources that exist to help them during these terrible situations and for long afterwards.”

Madeleine Hall-Arber, an anthropologist at the Sea Grant College program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Ann Backus, of the Harvard University School of Public Health, served as principal investigators and researchers on the lengthy project that produced RESCUES. The MIT Sea Grant College program also provided financing for the printing of the manual.

“By gathering information and knowledge that had never before been assembled in this fashion, and by tying so many disparate but important elements together, RESCUES will make a unique contribution to the well-being of fishing families and to the cohesiveness of fishing communities,” said Ms. Hall-Arber. “It fills a big gap, and it serves a function much needed in an industry experiencing stress on multiple fronts.”

In addition to Ms. Hall-Arber, Ms. Backus and Mr. Bartlett, press conference speakers will include:

  • Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken
  • Captain Robert Lepere, commanding officer of the Gloucester Coast Guard Station
  • Captain Claudia C. Gelzer, commanding officer of the Boston Coast Guard Station and Captain of the Port of Boston.
  • Angela Sanfilippo, President of both the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association and the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership, who will also serve as master of ceremonies.
  • Gloucester State Rep. Ann Margaret Ferrante of the 5th Essex District

“To me, RESCUES is about peace of mind,” said Ms. Sanfilippo. “Many of us who have been involved for years in helping fishermen and their families are in the last years of our working lives and it is good to know that the knowledge and insights we have gained are now gathered in one place for the benefit of future generations.”

On a reflective note, she added, “Working on this manual brought back painful memories of when a fisherman or an entire crew died at sea. That was very hard for us. At the same time, we relived those moments when a fisherman was saved from death because of a smart and courageous rescue. We were heartened by the realization that more lives were saved in the past 40 years than were lost.”

Copies of RESCUES will be provided at the March 24 event and all speakers will be available to answer questions from the media.

View a PDF of the release

MASSACHUSETTS: Team Gloucester packs them in at international expo

March 7, 2016 — BOSTON — There was no shortage of foreign languages filtering around the cavernous exhibition hall at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center when the international Seafood Expo North America show opened Sunday.

Visitors walking the aisles criss-crossing the exhibition floor among the 1,240 exhibitors could hear, among other tongues, snippets of Japanese, English, Spanish, Norwegian, Hebrew, Vietnamese and Korean.

And Gloucester. They most definitely could hear Gloucester, whether they wanted to or not.

Operating with a basic strategy of go-big or go-home, Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken and her merry band of Gloucesterites certainly made their presence known at one of the largest seafood shows in the world.

“Come to the city of Gloucester booth at 1671 and try some of our red fish soup, made with local Gloucester fish,” Romeo Theken announced over and over, and with authority, into the microphone as thousands of visitors and exhibitors milled past. “Gloucester fish is fresh fish. Check it out at www.gloucesterfresh.com.”

Not satisfied with just belting out a looping commentary and commercials for her city, Romeo Theken began walking through the crowd holding a redfish fillet in her hand, beseeching the assembled to smell it.

Read the full story at Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishermen need Mass. Attorney General Maura Healey’s help

March 2, 2016 — When touring the North Shore a year and a half ago, then-candidate for attorney general Maura Healey made it a point to mention her family ties to Gloucester, Newburyport and the region’s fishing industry. The implication was that, if elected, fishermen would have a powerful ally on Beacon Hill, or at the very least someone who understood the unique difficulties facing the industry.

Now, Healey is well into her second year as attorney general, and it is time to make good on her promise to protect the industry from federal overreach.

We are talking specifically about the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s at-sea monitoring program, which places observers on fishing vessels to record details of their catch and make sure the federal government’s byzantine regulations are strictly followed.

The most galling aspect of the program, however, is the requirement that fishermen pay for their overseers. By some estimates, the cost could run as high as $710 a trip. Fishermen are already on a razor’s edge; forcing them to pay out and extra several hundred dollars a trip will undoubtedly kill off many of these small businesses for good.

Last week, state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante and state Sen. Bruce Tarr reached out to Healey, asking for her help.

“We request that your office explore all appropriate legal means to support our fishing families and ports through vehicles such as the current pending case,” they wrote in a letter to Healey, referring to a lawsuit filed by fisherman David Goethel in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire aimed at stopping the mandatory monitoring. “We are interested in Mr. Goethel’s plight because his situation is comparable to that of fishermen and Gloucester and the statewide fishing industry.”

Read the full opinion piece at Gloucester Daily Times

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.”

Read the full story at Salem State News