Massachusetts Archives - Page 249 of 356

Change in Atlantic Herring Area 1A Trimester 3 Effort Controls

December 15, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts revised the effort control measures for the 2017 Area 1A Trimester 3 (October 1 – December 31). Section members, with input from industry, agreed to seven consecutive landing days until 92% of the Area 1A sub-ACL is projected to be harvested. Vessels may only land once every 24-hour period.

· Beginning on December 18, 2017: Vessels in the State of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts may land herring starting at 12:00 a.m. on seven (7) consecutive days a week.

Trimester 3 landings will be closely monitored and the directed fishery will close when 92% of the Area 1A sub-ACL is projected to be reached. Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip once the fishery is closed. For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, ISFMP Director, at 703.842.0740 or tkerns@asmfc.org.

A copy of the announcement can be found here –http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file//5a340dfdAtlHerringDaysOutTri3Changes_Dec2017.pdf.

Rafael prosecutor named US Attorney for Massachusetts

December 15, 2017 — A Sharon man is the new U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed President Donald Trump’s nomination of Andrew Lelling, of Sharon, as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, clearing the way for a new top federal prosecutor to set up shop in Boston.

A 16-year veteran of the Justice Department, Lelling is already familiar with the office, having served most recently as senior litigation counsel in the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office. He succeeds Acting U.S. Attorney William Weinreb, who took over when Carmen Ortiz, of Milton, resigned in January.

“I am honored to be confirmed as the United States Attorney and I look forward to serving the residents of Massachusetts,” Lelling said in a statement. “As a federal prosecutor I have had the privilege of working with some of the best federal and state law enforcement officers in the country. As U.S. Attorney, I will continue to collaborate with these distinguished public servants to fulfill the mission of the Department of Justice.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Elver trafficking sting yields more jail sentences, another guilty plea

December 15, 2017 — Operation Broken Glass, an interagency sting of a national elver trafficking ring based in Maine, has yielded two more jail sentences and a guilty plea this week.

Yarann Im, a 35-year-old Portland seafood dealer, was sentenced to six months in jail for illegally trafficking 480 pounds of elvers, which are also known as glass eels or juvenile American eels, following a hearing Thursday in federal district court in Portland. Im pleaded guilty in 2016 to buying more than $500,000 worth of eels, or almost a million individual elvers that had been illegally harvested in Virginia, North Carolina and Massachusetts, and selling them abroad.

Thomas Choi, a 76-year-old seafood dealer from Maryland, was sentenced Thursday to six months in prison with a $25,000 fine for trafficking in $1.26 million of elvers.

On Tuesday, Maine fisherman Albert Cray pleaded guilty to trafficking elvers, admitting to harvesting them illegally in New Jersey and selling them to a Maryland dealer, who then exported them from the United States to buyers in Asia. In 2013, Cray admitted to trafficking more than $250,000 worth of illegally harvested elvers, according to a statement of facts filed with Cray’s plea agreement.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

‘It’s devastating’: Fishermen try to cope as NOAA shuts down groundfishing

December 13, 2017 — NEWPORT, R.I. — Cesar Verde only knows fishing.

The New Bedford resident learned the craft in his native Portugal. For the past 17 years, he’s worked in the fishing industry in his new home, and he’s been a captain for the past decade.

However, for the last two weeks, he’s been out of the water because NOAA prohibited Carlos Rafael’s vessels from groundfishing.

Verde captains fishing vessel Ilha do Corvo.

“So far, (I’m) pitching in on the little savings I have. Soon I’ll run out,” Verde said. “It will very soon become survival mode all the way up to putting food on the table.

“My hands and feet are totally tied up. This is what I do. This is the only thing I know how to do.”

The decision came as NOAA believed the executives who manage fishing Sector IX, which Rafael’s vessels populate, haven’t corrected some lingering issues associated with the fishing mogul’s illegal behavior including preventative measures and updated catch reports.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Fish 2.0 Awards Second Round of Prizes in 2017 Competition

December 13, 2017 — CARMEL, Calif. — The following was released by Fish 2.0:

Fish 2.0 today announced the winners of its 11 ICX (Industry Connection) prizes, the final awards in the Fish 2.0 2017 competition for sustainable seafood businesses.

The competition’s cash prize winners were announced Nov. 8 at the close of the Fish 2.0 2017 Innovation Forum at Stanford University. Those awards went to the eight seafood ventures—one in each of the competition’s six regional and two global tracks—that earned the highest scores from investor-judges.

All of the 39 finalists from around the world who presented at the Forum were eligible for ICX prizes. These prizes are unique opportunities for ventures to gain market insights and expertise from industry leaders who support growth and innovation in sustainable seafood. Offered by investors and buyers, intermediaries and other seafood companies, ICX prizes include invitations to work directly with industry leaders on investment structures and growth plans or developing branding and market penetration strategies; to attend investor and industry events; and to meet and present to retail and wholesale partners in Europe and the U.S.

“It’s important for us to support the growth of the sustainable seafood sector as well as innovations in this sector,” said Guy Dean, vice president and chief sustainability officer at Albion Farms & Fisheries. “Fish 2.0 does just that, and their results have been fabulous. As a successful protein company, we are happy to help coach and mentor entrepreneurs because they will ultimately create positive impact for our industry and for future generations. In addition, this is a great opportunity for us to learn about new initiatives. In fact, we gain as much value in learning about the prize recipient’s innovation as we hope the prize recipient gains from our input and work with them.”

ICX prize recipients were chosen based on fit with the prize criteria and ability to take full advantage of the prize.

“Given Alltech’s ACE principle commitment to agricultural solutions that benefit the animal, consumer and environment, and to improving aquafeed specifically, we were eager to partner with Fish 2.0 in identifying companies that might be able to complement our core competencies and capabilities,” said Dr. Sasha Tozzi, algae technical manager at Alltech. “We are very excited to meet NovoNutrients to learn more about their technology, which could have many applications in Alltech’s animal nutrition. ShellBond’s capability to use swine waste as a source of a natural carotenoid antioxidant is another compelling match.”

Here is the full list of ICX prizes and winners, by prize sponsor:

Albion Farms & Fisheries
Prize: A full day of expert consultation with the Albion Farms & Fisheries senior leadership team and CSO, including advice and insight on opening new market opportunities and business growth strategies.
Winner: Fish Extend of Santiago, Chile, whose product extends the shelf life of fresh fish using natural ingredients, reducing production losses due to spoilage.

Alltech
Prize: Two passes for ONE: the Alltech Ideas Conference in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2018, and private meetings in Lexington with members of the Alltech team.
Winners: NovoNutrients of Sunnyvale, California (also the competition’s Supply Chain Innovation track winner), which is using food-grade bacteria to make fish food from industrial carbon emissions; and
ShellBond of Wilmington, North Carolina, whose technology solves problems in oyster habitat restoration, spat sedimentation, oil cleanup and nonorganic antioxidants in salmon farms.

Australis Aquaculture
Prize: One-day consultation with the Australis CEO and leadership team on how to introduce new products to market and/or scale an aquaculture enterprise.
Winner:VakSea of Baltimore, which has developed a patented oral vaccine delivered via fish feed that promotes healthier fish and decreases antibiotic use in aquaculture.

Calvert Impact Capital (formerly Calvert Foundation)
Prize: Half-day expert consultation with Calvert Impact Capital lending staff who lead its Women Investing in Women program, including mentorship, guidance and information on accessing financing.
Winner: American Unagi of Thomaston, Maine (the competition’s short-pitch winner), which grows locally harvested glass eels to market size in a land-based aquaculture system.

FishChoice
Prize: Two half-day meetings or one full-day meeting for up to three people with the FishChoice leadership team, who will share FishChoice’s expertise on sustainable seafood ratings and certifications.
Winner: Fair Agora of Bangkok, whose Verifik8 monitoring and verification software collects data from fish farms and cooperatives to help seafood buyers make safe and responsible choices.

IntraFish
Prize: Two tickets to the IntraFish Seafood Investor Forum in either New York or London.
Winners: ColomboSky of Verona, Italy, whose Aqua-X technology for the marine aquaculture industry uses satellite images, in-situ data and expert supervision to monitor and forecast water quality; and
TunaSolutions of Sydney, a fair-trade online marketplace for the tuna industry that connect fishers with buyers and facilitates real-time trading through a series of online auctions.

Rabobank International
Prize: Half-day meeting and consultation with the Rabobank North American seafood lending team, and a consultation with Rabobank’s global seafood analyst.
Winner: SmartCatch of Palo Alto, California, whose flagship product is DigiCatch, a remotely controllable video, lighting and oceanographic catch monitoring system.

RSF Social Finance
Prize: One-day visit to the RSF Social Finance offices for coaching sessions with the social enterprise lending team and the RSF marketing team.
Winner: Real Oyster Cult of Duxbury, Massachusetts (also the competition’s New England track winner), which ships fresh oysters from all over North America direct to consumers overnight.

Stavis Seafoods
Prize: Half-day consultation with the Stavis Seafoods CEO and responsible sourcing manager, including mentorship, guidance and information on accessing new market opportunities.
Winner: OneForNeptune of Santa Fe, New Mexico, which offers healthy, high-protein snack foods made from underutilized and undervalued U.S. groundfish species and industry offcuts.

TomAlgae
Prize: Two-day consultation with specialists from TomAlgae, who will offer advice and expertise on successfully scaling oyster aquaculture production.
Winners: Panacea Oysters of Spring Creek, Florida (also the competition’s South Atlantic and Gulf Coast Shellfish track winner), which is restoring oyster farming in Apalachicola Bay by creating a unified brand and guaranteeing purchases to farmers; and Pensacola Bay Oyster Company of Pensacola, Florida, an oyster farm producing premium oysters for the half-shell market, with the goal of restoring the Gulf Coast’s environment and working waterfronts.

Wabel
Prize: The Wabel Retail Prize includes an invitation to the Wabel Summit, at least eight meetings with fish buyers from Europe’s largest retail groups, and more.
Winner: Northline Seafoods of Sitka, Alaska (also the competition’s U.S. West Coast track winner), whose unique floating processing facility eliminates waste and extends the shelf life of sustainable wild salmon.

“Our team is thrilled to receive the Stavis Seafoods ICX prize,” said Nick Mendoza, CEO of OneForNeptune. “We’re introducing seafood products to a consumer market dominated by non-seafood meat snacks, which is both a challenge and an opportunity. Guidance from a company that is nearly 100 years old could be pivotal to our success, helping us to avoid the mistakes and pitfalls that can derail young companies. This prize gives us an invaluable opportunity to learn directly from Richard Stavis, a seafood innovator who has successfully grown a large company while continuing to focus attention on fishing communities, sustainable sourcing and enhancing consumer awareness.”

Fish 2.0 founder and executive director Monica Jain said the prizes and the spirit behind them exemplify what Fish 2.0 is all about—growing the sustainable seafood industry through connections and learning. “We’re grateful to these forward-thinking prize givers for offering their time and resources to these ventures and to the field,” she said. “Over the past years, these prizes and the partnerships that result from them have led to extraordinary growth acceleration for the winning ventures and the prize givers. These are golden opportunities.”

The prize givers benefit along with the entrepreneurs. “Participation in Fish 2.0 gives us fantastic insight into the sustainable seafood sector—it’s a great way to build our network and learn about the range of innovation and investment activity that’s happening to support sustainable oceans,” said Leigh Moran, senior officer, strategy, at Calvert Impact Capital. “Offering an ICX prize is a great way for CIC to be more involved in Fish 2.0 and continue learning about the sector.”

About Fish 2.0

Fish 2.0 is a Carmel, California–based social enterprise that connects investors and entrepreneurs to grow the global sustainable seafood sector. Working through Fish 2.0’s expanding global network, regional workshops and other events, and online competition platform, Fish 2.0 participants collaborate to drive innovation, business growth and positive impact. Everyone benefits: Entrepreneurs meet potential investors, partners and advisors. Investors and advisors get early access to investment opportunities and learn about emerging technologies and trends. Industry leaders gain direct access to sustainable seafood suppliers and partners.

Public gets say on changes to herring rules

December 12, 2017 — Cape Cod’s small boat fishermen, both commercial and recreational, have been asking for protection from a fleet of large herring trawlers for more than a decade.

They may get an answer to their plea as early as June, when the New England Fishery Management Council will likely vote on whether to create buffer zones that prohibit fishing close to shore by these large vessels for part or all of the year.

The council’s potential actions are focused on midwater trawlers which tow large nets, sometimes between pairs of vessels, targeting huge schools of herring swimming midway between the bottom and surface. Back in 2007, the council prohibited midwater trawlers from fishing during the summer months along the coast north of Provincetown to Canada. But they allowed them to come within three miles of the Cape and states to the south.

Herring are considered a forage species, a vital link between the massive food source contained in the plankton they eat, and the protein needed by important commercial species like striped bass, cod and bluefin tuna that prey on them. But Cape and other East Coast fishermen have argued that the massive nets and large vessels used by the herring fleet are so efficient that cod, tuna and other species, with no herring to eat, do not come close enough to shore for the smaller vessels of the inshore fleet.

“Our guys are not fishing the way they did 12 years ago around the Cape because those fish aren’t there because the bait isn’t there,” said John Pappalardo, executive director of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance and a member of the fishery council. “We live in a migratory corridor here. We depend on the bait to be there.”

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Massachusetts: ‘Outpouring of support’ as search continues for New Bedford fishermen

December 12, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The families of the two missing fishermen who were aboard the Misty Blue when it sank last week remain without closure as weather conditions continue to prevent divers from entering the water.

A scheduled dive for Tuesday was postponed for at least the fifth time as the Massachusetts State Police Divers will try again later this week to search for Michael Roberts, 49, and Jonathan Saraiva, 32.

“That’s been really crushing,” said the Rev. David Lima, who spoke on behalf of Saraiva’s family. “It’s hard enough not knowing exactly what happened and how it happened. They’re grateful for the others having been saved, but not knowing where your son is and not being able to have him in one form or the other is just extremely difficult. It’s not just about closure; it’s about the unknown.”

The Misty Blue sank Dec. 4 with four men aboard. Two — Captain Eric Arabian, 44, and a crew member, Colby McMullen 22 — were rescued by the fishing vessel Enterprise. Roberts, of Fairhaven, and Saraiva, of New Bedford, remain missing.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Massachusetts: Jack Spillane: In gratitude for fishermen

December 11, 2017 — “They that do down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.”

— Psalm 107

Misty Blue.

In the wake of its tragic destiny, even the name seems to betoken sadness.

Misty Blue, of course, could also bring to mind peace and beauty. And surely there was a time when the rugged guys who worked the surf clammer on a gentle Atlantic day thought about their boat that way.

In New Bedford, we’re well familiar with the ever-present danger of making a living on the sea. And yet, every time it happens, every time a boat goes down, it takes our breath away.

How? How? How?

Did they have time to get away? No. Could we have possibly done more for them? No.

The initial reports Monday night were that two fishermen had been rescued 10 miles southeast of Nantucket, but two remained missing.

The 69-foot Misty had put out a distress call at 6:10 p.m. and by 6:30 she was said to have rolled over and sunk. The public details of what happened are still sketchy.

Eric Arabian, 44, Michael Roberts, 44, Jonathan Saraiva, 32, and Colby McMullen, 22, were a crew and they should be listed together as a crew.

Arabian, the captain, and McMullen, were rescued by the fishing boat Enterprise and physically are said to be fine. Or as fine as they can ever be after such catastrophe.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Cod quotas rise, flounder sinks

December 8, 2017 — Northeast commercial groundfishermen will face a mixed sampler of annual catch limits when the 2018 fishing season opens, with significant increases to some Gulf of Maine stocks but continued declines in many of the flounder quotas.

The New England Fishery Management Council, at its meeting Wednesday in Newport, Rhode Island, approved its groundfish Framework 57, which sets the annual catch limits for 2018-2020 fishing years.

Groundfishing stakeholders applauded the 2018 increases for such stocks as Georges Bank cod, Gulf of Maine cod, Gulf of Maine haddock and pollock in 2018, but said the gains still don’t come close to closing the credibility gap they believe exists between NOAA Fisheries’ science and what fishermen are seeing on the water.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Massachusetts: Still Haunted By Rafael New Bedford Fishermen Forced Back to Port

December 8, 2017 — Just before Thanksgiving, federal regulators took the unprecedented move of shutting down part of New Bedford’s fishing fleet known as sector 9, and ordering fishermen back to port. It was a shocking move that has kept 22 fishing boats tied up at the dock and put more than 80 commercial fishermen out of work. In addition, more than 300 dockside support workers who provide everything from ice and fuel to nets and accounting are affected, and if the shutdown continues, will be forced out of business.

Regional Fisheries Administrator John Bullard — who happens to be a former mayor of New Bedford — ordered the shutdown because of what he said was gross mismanagement of the sector, pointing to the infamous “Codfather,” Carlos Rafael, as the culprit. Rafael dominated the sector 9 fleet, which he was in part tasked with managing. His massive fishing operation was brought down when undercover agents discovered a scheme in which he sold illegally caught cod and flounder and big profits, sending the money to Portugal. He is now serving a four-year prison term after admitting to the charges.

Read the full story at WBGH