Saving Seafood

Timeline: Case of Carlos Rafael

September 26, 2017 — Feb. 26, 2016: Federal authorities raided Carlos Seafood on South Front Street in New Bedford, arresting owner Carlos Rafael, 64, and bookkeeper Debra Messier, 60, both of Dartmouth, on charges of conspiracy and falsifying records. Rafael was held without bail; Messier was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

March 2, 2016: Rafael is allowed to return home under strict conditions of a $1 million bond; he is allowed to continue working, too. Rafael and his wife, Conceicao, agree to place their Tucker Lane home in North Dartmouth and Carlos Seafood as collateral for the bond.

March 25, 2016: Prosecutors receive an extension of the deadline to indict Rafael. The length of the deadline’s extension is not disclosed.

May 4, 2016: Rafael has been indicted by federal prosecutors for lying about fish catches and smuggling cash to Portugal through Logan airport in Boston, in a multi-year scheme involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to court documents. The indictment lists 27 counts against Rafael, for charges including conspiracy, false entries and bulk cash smuggling. Rafael is alleged to have falsely reported the species of more than 815,000 pounds of fish to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) between 2012 and January 2016, according to the Office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz.

May 4, 2016: Antonio Freitas, 46, of Taunton is charged with using his special assignment status as a member of the Department of Homeland Security Task Force, which gave him access to restricted areas of Logan International Airport, to help Rafael smuggle cash out of the U.S. Freitas is a member of the Bristol County Sheriff’s Honor Guard.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Fish Pier’s seafood business evolving with the industry

June 16, 2016 — BOSTON — They dress much like their fathers and grandfathers before them, fish-stained slickers over well-worn jeans, thick gloves nicked by countless fillet knives.

And as the once-empty neighborhood around them closes in with new office towers and luxury apartments, the Seaport District’s fishmongers still make their living off the ocean.

Just often not the one that laps at the docks outside their doors.

After years of struggle in the face of a declining local fishery, the Fish Pier in Boston is again bursting with seafood businesses. But with New England fishing stocks tightly managed, the Fish Pier dealers are now more reliant on fishermen from distant oceans, their catch arriving by truck after being shipped through Logan Airport or the Conley Terminal.

“Just like a Ford has parts from different parts of the world, I think Boston is becoming this seaport hub, and that allows us to be very successful,” said Richard Stavis, chief executive of Stavis Seafoods, a Boston-based national seafood distributor with offices on Fish Pier.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe