January 8, 2020 — Carlos Rafael has moved another step closer to completely removing himself from the New England commercial fishing scene, successfully unloading at least four more of his groundfish vessels, Undercurrent News has learned.
Between the Thanksgiving and Christmas 2019 holidays, according to sources, Rafael’s family and his New Bedford, Massachusetts-based attorney, John Markey, Jr., have succeeded in helping the former fishing mogul sell the:
- Bulldog (a 22-year old, 75.4-foot vessel with a 855 HP engine) for $1.4 million;
- Hera (a 31-year-old, 80.2-foot vessel with a 850 HP engine) for $1.2m;
- Drake (a 30-year-old, 77.7-foot vessel with a 575 HP engine) for $1m; and
- the Hercules (a 36-year-old, 76.1-foot vessel with a 575-HP engine) for $800,000.
Each vessel maintains small to large amounts of quota on the northern Atlantic Coast for cod, haddock, plaice, redfish, hake, flounder and/or pollock.