Saving Seafood

Massachusetts: UMass placing sustainable fisheries professor at Hodgkins Cove

December 21, 2017 — The University of Massachusetts at Amherst embarked on recasting the role of its Gloucester Marine Station at Hodgkins Cove by hiring Gloucester resident Katie Kahl to serve as the liaison between research elements at the school and the Cape Ann community.

The university’s School of Earth and Sustainability is set to formally announce the appointment of Kahl on Thursday to the newly created position of extension assistant professor in sustainable fisheries and coastal resilience.

“I’m really excited and can’t wait to start,” Kahl said Wednesday. “This is really a great opportunity for the university to re-imagine its role at the Gloucester Marine Station.” Kahl’s mission, which begins Jan. 2, is a new one for the university’s research facility.

The university announced last January that it was establishing a permanent, full-time extension faculty position at the Gloucester Marine Station as the focal point for determining the future role of the facility.

Most recently, it housed the university’s Large Pelagics Research Center, which was nicknamed the “Tuna Lab.” Under the guidance of Molly Lutcavage, the center did internationally groundbreaking research on giant bluefin tuna and other highly migratory pelagic species.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

 

Another New Bedford Fish Dealer Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion

December 21, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — George F. Estudante, a former New Bedford seafood wholesaler, pleaded guilty in a Boston federal court on December 18 to two counts of failing to file tax returns and one count of filing a false income tax return.

The owner of Basic Fisheries failed to file an income tax return in 2010 despite receiving approximately $1,418,629 in payments. In 2011 he failed to file a tax return despite receiving a total of $1,607,726 for the year. In 2012 he filed a tax return saying that he received $533,078 in gross receipts. His bank account for that year showed that he received over $740,000.

Estudante will be sentenced on March 13, 2018. He faces a sentence of no greater than one year in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $25,000 for failing to file an income tax return. He also faces no greater than three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $100,000 for filing a false income tax return.

This is the second person in the New Bedford seafood industry in the last month to plead guilty to tax evasion. On November 28 Orlando Cardoso, a production manager at Seatrade International in New Bedford, failed to report $75,000 in earnings on his 2012 and 2013 tax returns.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

Massachusetts: Three companies submit bids for offshore wind power

December 21, 2017 — Three offshore wind energy developers bid Wednesday on contracts to sell electricity to Massachusetts power companies, taking the next big step in a process that could set turbines spinning south of Martha’s Vineyard within the next five years.

“It’s in the hands of the utilities,” Vineyard Wind Chief Development Officer Erich Stephens said.

By April, Vineyard Wind, Bay State Wind and Revolution Wind will hear whether their bids have been selected for negotiation by the handful of electric distribution companies that will buy the wind energy. By the end of July, the utilities and offshore wind energy companies are expected to finalize long-term contracts and hand them over to the state Department of Public Utilities for review and approval.

Depending on the wind energy company, construction of anywhere from 50 to 100 turbines in federally leased, submerged areas could begin within two to five years. In addition to securing contracts to sell their energy, the companies face federal and state permitting requirements, including through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

“The critical path is the federal permit,” said Bay State Wind representative Michael Ausere, who is also vice president of business development for Eversource, which distributes electricity on Cape Cod and the Vineyard and is one of the utilities that would buy power from the wind farms. “This will be the first large-scale offshore wind farm.”

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

Sanfilippo resigns from fisheries commission

December 19, 2017 — Longtime Gloucester fisherman Gus Sanfilippo has resigned from the state’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission, leaving Arthur “Sooky” Sawyer as the only Gloucester resident on the commission.

Sanfilippo, appointed to the commission in May 2016 as part of Gov. Charlie Baker’s wholesale purge of existing commission members, said he resigned so he could spend more time fishing.

“I just didn’t have the time now that I’m back fishing again,” said Sanfilippo, who has been working on the fishing vessel Miss Trish. “I found it really interesting, but it was really just a matter of not having the time.”

Sanfilippo said his time on the commission gave him a greater appreciation for the complexities of the state’s varied fisheries and the overall performance of the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries.

“It’s something I’d definitely do again if I have the time,” he said.

Sanfilippo hails from an established Gloucester fishing family and skippered the 80-foot F/V Lily Jean on the History Channel’s 2012 fishing mini-series, “Nor’easter Men,’ a three-hour documentary that focused on draggers from several New England ports.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times 

 

Massachusetts: Divers recover bodies of 2 missing men from sunken fishing boat

December 19, 2017 — Divers have recovered the bodies of the two missing crewmen of the Misty Blue, a fishing boat that sank 10 miles off the coast of Nantucket on Dec. 4, authorities said Monday.

The first body was recovered at 10:30 a.m. and the second at 4:20 p.m., State Police spokesman David Procopio said. Relatives of the two men expressed gratitude to those involved in the search. In a statement, the Saraiva family thanked “everyone involved in helping to find and bring their son Jonathan and Mr. Roberts home.”

Michael Flynn, a lawyer for Roberts’s widow, said their “thoughts and prayers go out to” Saraiva’s family.

“Mrs. Roberts looks forward to moving through the grieving process and trying to move forward,” he said.

Danny Cohen, president of Atlantic Capes Fisheries, the New Bedford-based seafood company affiliated with the Misty Blue, said the company was “thankful and saddened” that the men’s bodies had been recovered.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

MASSACHUSETTS: F/V Misty Blue Missing Crewmembers Found

WASHINGTON – December 18, 2017 – The bodies of two missing fishermen from the F/V MISTY BLUE have been recovered by Massachusetts State Police divers. Jonathan Saraiva, 32, and Michael Roberts, 49, were on board the vessel when it rolled over and sank on Dec. 4.

“Our divers recovered two bodies from the sunken vessel Misty Blue today. The first recovery was at 10:30 a.m., the second at 4:20 p.m. We offer our deepest condolences to their families. I have no further information to relay,” said Massachusetts State Police spokesman Dave Procopio.

Atlantic Capes Fisheries issued the following statement this evening:

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Atlantic Capes Fisheries, Inc. (“ACF”) is thankful and saddened to receive the news that divers have recovered the bodies of the missing crewmen of the F/V MISTY BLUE. All of the ACF team members extend their deepest condolences to the families of Michael Roberts and Jonathan Saraiva.

“This is a sorrow-filled day for everyone, not only at Atlantic Capes but also in the greater New England fishing community,” said Danny Cohen, President of ACF. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Roberts and Saraiva families during this difficult time.”

“Michael was a five year veteran of Atlantic Capes, and Jonathan had just joined our team. We were all devastated to lose an old friend and new colleague. We join with their families and the rest of the harbor in mourning their loss,” said Chad Brayton, the Vessel Manager. “The divers deserve our deepest respect.  That was a difficult dive, in strong currents on Nantucket shoals, which has to be accomplished in very limited time.”

“We recognize the great risks and technical difficulty involved in this recovery effort, so on behalf of Atlantic Capes, we wish to thank the Coast Guard, the Massachusetts State Police, the dive teams, and everyone whose brave efforts made it possible for Michael and Jonathan to be returned to their grieving families,” said Sam Martin, Vice President of Operations. “We hope the recovery brings some comfort to their friends and loved ones at this difficult time.”

 

Boston Globe: What’s fair in breaking up Carlos Rafael’s empire?

December 18, 2017 — Randy Cushman, a fourth generation fisherman in Maine, knows what the crimes of Carlos Rafael cost him.

Cushman fishes out of the bucolic village of Port Clyde, population 307, the sort of place many New Englanders might still associate with the region’s storied, struggling fishing industry. Last season, he had to pay $49,000 for fishing quota, most of it for American plaice, a species of groundfish commonly known as dabs. Cushman’s own allowance on the fish ran out after only four days on the water, forcing him to bargain with other fishermen for more.

Up the coast, Rafael had been catching dabs in the Gulf of Maine too. But in an elaborate criminal scheme, the New Bedford fishing tycoon, owner of about 40 vessels, was directing his captains to report dabs as other kinds of fish, often haddock, which is subject to much higher limits. Breaking the rules let Rafael evade the kind of payments that Cushman made. It also depressed prices by flooding the market with black-market fish. Worst of all, the scheme also meant fishing regulators were getting inaccurate information about how many fish Rafael’s empire was scooping out of the Atlantic, bad data that fishermen suspect distorted how scientists analyzed ocean trends, and Cushman believes skewed the way regulators set the amount each fishermen can catch before having to start paying.

“He definitely hurt my business,” Cushman said. Bottom line: “I should have ended up with more allocation on dabs,” he said.

Rafael, whose downfall came after he boasted of his scheme to undercover IRS agents posing as Russian mobsters, is now serving a 46-month sentence in federal prison. The made-for-TV story, complete with an illicit cash buyer in New York, bank accounts in Portugal, allegations of corrupt sheriff deputies, and broad hints that other players on the waterfront must have been in the know, has transfixed New England’s close-knit fishery. Rafael’s arrest has thrust arcane fisheries policies into the spotlight, touched off a political battle between Massachusetts and Maine about the future of his businesses, and raised questions about how fishing regulators can provide justice for his victims and prevent a scheme like his from infecting the fishery again. The feds have already seized some of his permits and four of his boats, but more punishments are widely expected. A spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Jennifer Goebel, said the regulatory agency was considering further sanctions against Rafael but that “it’s longstanding NOAA policy not to discuss pending enforcement matters.”

Read the full editorial at the Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford City Council seeks action on Carlos Rafael’s fishermen

December 18, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The City Council took aim at former Mayor John Bullard and his decision to prevent Sector IX, the fishing division populated by Carlos Rafael vessels, from landing groundfish.

“It’s important that we get turn this around,” [Ward 4 Councilor Dana] Rebeiro said. “He’s a very reasonable man. He loves New Bedford. I know he’s very concerned about Carlos Rafael, as we all are, and the fact that he was able to do what he did for so long. But I think there has to be a way that we can make sure that justice is served but not at the expense of these families.”

The council agreed to send a letter to Bullard, the Northeast Regional Administrator for NOAA and the federal delegation asking for immediate reversal of the ban.

The ban took effect Nov. 20 as a result of Bullard believing the division still hadn’t addressed issues resulting from Rafael’s illegal behavior.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: State police divers search for Misty Blue fishermen

December 18, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — State police divers are searching the waters off Nantucket for two missing fishermen who were aboard the vessel Misty Blue when it sank Dec. 4, a spokesman said.

Lt. Tom Ryan, a Massachusetts State Police spokesman, confirmed today that divers are searching for the two missing fishermen. He did not have any other details.

Monday’s dive followed the postponement of at least five previous State Police dives because of weather conditions.

After hearing reports by the Coast Guard on the police scanner about the search on Monday morning, a Coast Guard spokeswoman referred The Standard-Times to State Police for information.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

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.