Saving Seafood

Sentencing Approaches for New England’s Carlos Rafael

July 23, 2017 — One of the biggest fishing magnates in the country could be sentenced to prison this coming week, and the forfeiture of his boats could be a big hit for the Massachusetts port where he amassed a small empire.

Between his scalloping and groundfishing boats, Carlos Rafael – nicknamed “the Codfather” — came to be the largest single owner of fishing vessels in New England, and possibly in the country.

But in 2015, undercover IRS agents posed as Russian criminals and convinced him they wanted to buy his entire fleet. Rafael unpacked an elaborate criminal enterprise to the agents — one he said he’d been carrying out for three decades.

Court records show that Rafael valued his business at $175 million. He told the undercover agents the value came from the way he cheated the government quota system. Rafael’s men would haul in a more valuable fish — like cod — and report it as a cheaper species with a much greater quota. Now Rafael is facing prison time for counts including tax evasion and bulk cash smuggling — all of which he admitted to.

But people in New Bedford want to know: What will become of the 13 fishing boats — and all the permits attached to them — that were tied to Rafael’s crimes? Will they be auctioned off on the open market, held by an entity such as the city of New Bedford or perhaps removed from circulation?

Read the full story at NPR

National Coalition for Fishing Communities Members Testify on Magnuson-Stevens Act

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – June 19, 2017 – Two members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities testified at the hearing, “Exploring the Successes and Challenges of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,” held by the Water, Power and Oceans Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Mr. Jeff Kaelin, head of Government Relations at Lund’s Fisheries, Inc. in Cape May, New Jersey and a member of the Garden State Seafood Association, and Mr. Sean Martin, President of the Hawaii Longline Association in Honolulu, Hawaii, offered testimony.

Mr. Nick Wiley, Executive Director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Tallahassee, Florida, was the third witness for the Republican majority.

Mr. Charles Witek, a Recreational Angler and Outdoor Writer from West Babylon, New York, tesitfied at the invitation of the Democratic minority.

In March, New Bedford, Massachusetts Mayor Jon Mitchell delivered written testimony to the Subcommittee on behalf of the NCFC, expressing concerns over the increasing use of marine monuments to manage fisheries in place of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA). According to the mayor and NCFC members, this has undermined the more transparent and collaborative management process established by the MSA.

The following additional information was provided by the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans:

On Wednesday, July 19, 2017, at 2:00 p.m. in 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Water, Power and Oceans Subcommittee will hold an oversight hearing on “Exploring the Successes and Challenges of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.”

Policy Overview:

  • Recreational and commercial fishing industries are significant drivers of the U.S. economy. Together, the U.S. seafood industry and the recreational fishing industry generate $208 billion in sales impacts and contribute $97 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product. Additionally, these industries support upwards of 1.6 million U.S. jobs.
  • Unfortunately, in recent years, access for commercial and recreational fishing has eroded due to poor science, overbearing regulations, and abuse of Marine Protected Areas – such as Marine National Monuments and Marine Sanctuaries – that often prohibit various fishing activities.
  • According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), nearly 90 percent of federally managed fisheries that our commercial and recreational fishermen are not being allowed to harvest at maximum sustainable levels.
  • This hearing will begin to explore issues facing a number of federally managed recreational and commercial fisheries and identify possible solutions, including potential areas to update the federal fisheries framework via reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Read the Subcommittee’s full memo here

U.S. Conference of Mayors Pass Resolution to Fight Ocean Acidification

June 26, 2017 — Today the United States Conference of Mayors approved a resolution on ocean acidification, citing the need for more research and coordination in addressing an ever-increasing threat to coastal communities. The resolution was introduced by Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

“I’m pleased to support the resolution approved today by the Conference’s Energy Committee and the Ocean Conservancy’s many efforts to highlight the threat posed by ocean acidification,” said New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Energy Committee. “As Mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the top fishing port in the nation for the past 17 years, I understand well the threat to our fisheries and to those who rely on those fisheries to earn a living.  And I’m proud to join the many other mayors across the nation who are leading on this issue.”

The resolution states that “cities are at the forefront of preparing for, mitigating against, and responding to the consequences of changes in ocean chemistry like ocean acidification.” It encourages efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the root cause of ocean acidification, and calls on Congress to fund research assessing the vulnerability of coastal communities to its impacts.

Ocean acidification hurts the fish, shellfish, and corals that anchor the fishing and tourism industries in states as varied as Massachusetts and Florida, threatening the economy of coastal communities and businesses.  The ocean absorbs about 25 percent of carbon dioxide pollution – as a result the chemistry of the ocean is changing rapidly.

About 40 percent of the U.S. population now lives in coastal counties, and that number is growing fast. The mayor’s resolution states that leaders need better information on the threat of ocean acidification to plan for and minimize the potential harm to vulnerable communities, local businesses, and economies.

Read the full story at Ocean Conservancy

New Bedford Mayor, Others In New England Weigh in on Rafael Permits

June 26, 2017 — The following is an excerpt from a story published June 24, 2017 by the New Bedford Standard-Times. As previously noted by Saving Seafood, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell has written to officials at NOAA, citing legal precedent, asking that Carlos Rafael’s fishing permits be allowed to remain in New Bedford to protect the innocent parties who were not involved in criminal activity. The Mayor also notes that selling the permits, as well as the rest of Mr. Rafael’s fishing interests, whole to a New Bedford-based entity is likely the only way to have Mr. Rafael completely divested from the fishing industry, as his scallop business is not implicated in any crimes.

Mayor Jon Mitchell was the most recent party to lobby for the permits proposing that they remain in New Bedford in a four-page letter to Samuel Rauch, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries for NOAA. But his letter also shed the most light on the situation, including references to Rafael selling his entire fleet of ships and that the government appears to not have sufficient evidence to seize any scallop permits.

“All the decisions concerning Carlos’ sanctions are being discussed right now. They’re being discussed by the U.S. Attorney’s office and NOAA and Rafael’s attorney,” Mitchell said. “They’ve all heard from me over the last several months, more than once. I wanted to put my thoughts in writing on the record so it’s clear to everybody where New Bedford stood.”

In his letter, Mitchell focuses on the 13 permits’ influence on third parties. He pointed out that Rafael’s business, Carlos Seafood Inc., directly employs 285 fishermen and indirectly “supports a sprawling supply chain in the port that includes gear menders and manufacturers, fuel companies, vessel outfitters, settlement houses, welders, lumper, ice houses, truckers and many others.”

According to the mayor, Rafael’s fleet accounts for 70 percent of the fuel supplied to fishing vessels by Bay Fuels, 30 percent of the fishing gear manufactured by Reidar’s Trawling and 75 percent of the groundfish landed at Whaling City Display Auction.

“My concern is that if the government doesn’t exercise its discretion in a way that reasonably considers the interest of innocent third parties,” Mitchell said. “I believe there would be considerable harm to those folks.”

The concern extends to the New Bedford economy, which already heavily relies on scallops. Mitchell said that Rafael owns about 75 percent of the groundfish permits. Groundfish accounts for 10 percent of the port’s revenue.

“When industries in a place are less diversified, they’re more prone to economic shocks,” Mitchell said. “If we become almost exclusively reliant on scallop landings, we’re prone to all the risks that prevent themselves to that industry.

The one commonality among most of the written notes is the desire for Rafael to never fish again.

Mitchell is the only one who developed a scenario to make that a reality.

Rafael’s most valuable permits lie within his scallop vessels. There’s no evidence that the government can seize any permits other than the 13 listed in the original indictment.

“If, as it appears, the government does not have sufficient evidence or legal authority to pursue the forfeiture of all of Rafael’s permits and vessels not named in the criminal indictment, Rafael will be able to use his remaining permits…to profit from scallop landings — even from his cell in jail,” Mitchel wrote.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Mitchell sends NOAA letter requesting Rafael permits stay in New Bedford

June 21, 2017 — Mayor Jon Mitchell penned a letter to NOAA regarding Carlos Rafael’s permits, a day after Maine’s congressional delegation signed a letter regarding the permits.

In an argument consisting of four pages, Mitchell provided legal precedent for the Department of Justice and NOAA to punish Rafael, while also keeping the 13 fishing permits in question in New Bedford. He likens Rafael’s case to those cases involving wrongdoing by the head of a large business. He states, “It is common for the government to tailor punishment so as to avoid harm to others who were not involved.”

Rafael’s business employ 285 fishermen.

Mitchell suggested Rafael sell his entire business to other New Bedford companies, forfeiting the proceeds to the government. It would entirely exclude Rafael from fishing despite possessing more permits than the 13 in question.

“If the Service affords him a reasonable opportunity to fully divest himself in such fashion,” Mitchel wrote. “The government can accomplish its enforcement goals and avoid harm to employees and other businesses.”

On Monday, U.S. Senators Angus King and Susan Collins, along with members of Congress Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin, drafted a letter to U.S. Secretary Wilbur Ross stating the permits should be redistributed among “all eligible permit holders in the fleet.” The Congressional delegation cited the Magnuson-Stevens Act to justify its belief.

Politicians and organizations have jockeyed for leverage regarding the final destination of the permits almost immediately after Rafael pleaded guilty to 28 counts including falsifying fishing quotas, false labeling, conspiracy and tax evasion at the end of March.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

New Bedford Mayor Calls on NOAA to Protect Innocent Parties in Rafael Case

June 21, 2017 (Saving Seafood) – The mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts is calling on NOAA to protect the innocent, preserve waterfront jobs, and avoid economic harm as the Carlos Rafael case nears the end of its sentencing phase. Citing long-standing Department of Justice rules, Mayor Jon Mitchell urges the federal government, in a letter to then-Acting NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Sam Rauch, to resolve the case in a way that minimizes harm.

The mayor noted that Department of Justice policy “directs federal prosecutors to take into account the effect their decisions may have on innocent third parties.” He cites the Principles of Federal Prosecution (Section 9-28.1100), which “speak directly to the possible need for restraint in cases of corporate misfeasance, where punishment that results in the demise of the business itself would cause harm to employees, shareholders, suppliers and other constituents of the business.”

Mr. Rafael, owner of one of the largest groundfish businesses in New England, pled guilty in March to fish mislabeling, falsifying federal records, conspiracy, and other charges. The sentence is expected to be handed down in July.

Mayor Mitchell acknowledges that Mr. Rafael’s sentence should result in the forfeiture of his groundfish permits and “be sufficient to deter others from engaging in similar misconduct.” But the mayor also warns that it should be handled in a way that is least disruptive to the hundreds on the New Bedford waterfront who depend on the businesses that are based around those permits.

“Although I believe that Rafael should not be allowed to profit from permits he has abused, numerous others in Greater New Bedford, who played no part in his fraudulent scheme, also depend on the landings associated with those permits for their livelihoods,” the mayor writes. “The decisions concerning the forfeiture or revocation of Rafael’s permits should take their interests into account.”

The mayor, who as a former Assistant U.S. Attorney worked with NOAA law enforcement on several successful prosecutions prior to serving as mayor, contends that there is existing precedent for such a decision, pointing to past sentencing practices.

By allowing Mr. Rafael to transfer his permits to willing buyers in New Bedford, and transferring the profits of the sale of those permits to the government, the mayor argues that the federal government can achieve its main goals—“a clear general deterrence message and the removal of Rafael from the business of fishing”—without causing harm to workers in New Bedford.

The mayor also notes that this option may be the only way for the government to compel Mr. Rafael to leave the fishing industry entirely.

“If, as it appears, the government does not have sufficient evidence or the legal authority to pursue the forfeiture all of Rafael’s permits and vessels not named in the criminal indictment, Rafael will be able to use his remaining permits, largely to fish for scallops,” the mayor writes. “This scenario would result in harm to the businesses that rely on his groundfish landings, while Rafael could continue to profit from scallop landings—— even from his jail cell.”

According to the mayor, those in New Bedford who would be affected by any permit forfeiture include 285 fishermen who are directly employed by Mr. Rafael, as well as hundreds more directly employed in supporting businesses. Many businesses on the waterfront—“gear menders and manufacturers, fuel companies, vessel outfitters, settlement houses, welders, lumpers, ice houses, truckers”—depend on Mr. Rafael’s permits for a significant portion of their revenue.

“Approximately seventy percent of the fuel supplied to fishing vessels by Bay Fuels, a fueling company based on the New Bedford waterfront, is sold to Mr. Rafael; thirty percent of the fishing gear manufactured by New Bedford-based Reidar’s Trawling is sold to Mr. Rafael; and seventy five percent of the groundfish landed at the Whaling City Display Auction is landed by Rafael’s boats,” the mayor writes.

The Port of New Bedford as a whole also relies on Mr. Rafael’s businesses for diversity in its landings. If Mr. Rafael’s permits were dispersed, the Port would be forced to rely almost solely on revenues from one species, Atlantic scallops, making it more vulnerable to potential downturns.

Read the full letter here

 

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishermen lost at sea remembered at Seaman’s Bethel

People filled the newly-restored Seamen’s Bethel to the rafters Monday to pay their respects to fishermen who have lost their lives at sea and to pray for the safe return of the men who currently fish the Atlantic.

Retired Probate Court Judge Armand Fernandes and Bruce Oliveira took turns reading nearly 300 names of local fishermen who have been lost at sea. Each time a name was read from the bow of the ship, which is the pulpit at the Bethel, a solitary bell was struck, resonating throughout the confines of the chapel.

Both Fernandes and Oliveira are members of the New Bedford Port Society’s Executive Board. Fernandes is the first vice president and Oliveira is the assistant treasurer and was the chairman of the Development Committee of the more than $3 million restoration of the Seamen’s Bethel and Mariners’ Home on Johnny Cake Hill.

Monday’s event was sponsored by the Offshore Mariners Wives’ Association and the New Bedford Port Society.

As Fernandes and Oliveira read the names, spectators read along with the names of the deceased fishermen listed in their programs.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said for most people the commute to work is pretty routine compared to a commercial fisherman. Their commute could be “a life or death event,” he said.

“It is dangerous out there, very dangerous,” and the stress and uncertainty weighs heavily on the families in the fishing community, he said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

SEAN HORGAN: Fate of Raphael’s permits being debated

May 8, 2017 — As we have mentioned several times in the past, they don’t seem to brook a whole lot of foolishness up in Maine, particularly when it comes to cheating in the commercial fishing business.

So, it wasn’t really surprising when the Gloucester Daily Times received —  ran — a letter last week from Maggie Raymond, the highly respected executive director of the Associated Fisheries of Maine, with her take on what should happen to convicted scammer Carlos Rafael’s surrendered groundfishing permits.

“For law-abiding fishermen, this day is long overdue,” Raymond wrote. “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.”

But Raymond wasn’t done there. She followed by offering a solution for the distribution of Rafael’s still-to-be-decided permit forfeitures. It’s one sure to make New Bedford Mayor Jon F. Mitchell choke on his Wheaties.

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

Read the full opinion piece at the Gloucester Times

Fishing and offshore wind can co-exist, leaders say

May 3, 2017 — New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell and about 20 civic, business, and academic representatives spent the first full day of their wind-focused trade visit to England Tuesday in Grimbsy, the largest fishing port in the world in the 1950s — which gives the New Bedford group food for thought.

New Bedford has landed the highest dollar-value catch in the United States for 16 years running. But in Grimsby and England at large, the fishing industry declined sharply in the 20th century following a period known as the “Cod Wars,” when Iceland asserted territorial authority over waters where English vessels were fishing.

Thus, as SouthCoast leaders learn from Grimsby about its success in offshore wind, they also have their minds on fishing, and how the two industries can coexist.

Around 5:45 a.m., some of the New Bedford group left their hotel for the Grimsby Fish Auction. Grimsby still handles about 70 percent of all the fish processed in the United Kingdom, according to Neil Mello, Mitchell’s chief of staff.

Among the auction visitors was John F. Quinn, a former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives who now chairs the New England Fisheries Management Council. Asked if he could see evidence that offshore wind is compatible with the fishing industry, he said, “most certainly.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford-Standard Times

Environmentalists vow to fight Trump on Maine monument

April 26, 2017 — President Trump on Wednesday will issue a sweeping executive order to review as many as 40 national monument designations made by his three predecessors, an unprecedented move that could curtail or rescind their protected status.

It was unclear which areas would come under review, but the list could include monuments designated last year by President Barack Obama, including thousands of acres of pristine woods in northern Maine and sensitive marine habitats in the submerged canyons and mountains off Cape Cod.

Environmental groups immediately questioned the president’s legal authority to reverse a previous president’s designation, but the Trump administration has suggested that some of the restrictions on mining, logging, and other commercial and recreational activities have gone too far.

“The review is long overdue,” US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said at a White House news conference.

“No one can say definitely one way or another whether a president can undo an earlier president’s designation, because the issue has never been litigated,” said New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, who has opposed Obama’s closing of 5,000 square miles of seabed to fishing by designating the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, about 130 miles off Cape Cod.

Mitchell said there is precedent for presidents to change the boundaries and activities within a national monument. President Woodrow Wilson reduced by half the size of the Mount Olympus National Monument in Washington, created by President Theodore Roosevelt.

“Intuitively, one would assume that if the president can establish a monument, the president can undo an earlier establishment,” he said.

Andrew Minkiewicz, an attorney at the Fisheries Survival Fund in Washington, D.C., said the president wouldn’t have to rescind Obama’s designation to address the concerns of the fishing industry.

“With the stroke of a pen, he could just say there’s no longer a ban on commercial fishing,” he said.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe