Saving Seafood

Access to Surfclam (Spisula solidissima) Fishing Grounds Studied by SCeMFiS Scientists in Research Survey Cruise Southeast of Nantucket Island

August 15, 2017 — BOSTON — The following was released by SCeMFiS:

The scientists of the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) recently completed a survey of the surfclam fishery area southeast of Nantucket Island to provide information regarding surfclam stock status and habitat to ensure continued resource access by local surfclam vessels. Surveys were successfully conducted in 4 days aboard the F/V Mariette sailing from New Bedford, MA.

Chris Shriver of Galilean Seafoods in Bristol, Rhode Island commented – “We believe this survey will assist the federal managers of the surfclam industry to preserve traditional surfclam fishing areas and to assist in opening new areas for the vessels to harvest surfclams so we can supply the public with sustainable and healthy clam chowders and clam strips, while protecting the marine habitat.”

Data will be reported to the SCeMFiS Industry Advisory Board at the Fall 2017 meeting in Cape May, New Jersey, with a final report by Spring 2018 and will be considered by the National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center (“NEFSC”) Survey Design Working Group at their September meeting. If necessary, reporting will be accelerated as required to provide input to the New England Fisheries Management Council (“NEFMC”) Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 (OHA2) decision making process. Data collected from this cruise will contribute both to ongoing efforts to (1) preserve access to the local resource by the small boat surfclam fishermen, and (2) ensure a well informed and scientifically based decision by the NEFMC concerning delineation of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) area closures.

SCeMFiS scientific projects are unique in that they respond directly to the scientific needs of the fisheries managers in collaboration with the commercial fishing industry while upholding strict quality scientific standards and procedures. SCeMFiS partnerships include academia, government agencies, non-profits, trade organizations, and industry members. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) are lead academic institutions and SCeMfiS is part of the National Science Foundation’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Center program. Other participating partners include Atlantic Capes Fisheries, Bumble Bee Seafoods Incorporated, Garden State Seafood Association, Intershell International Corporation, LaMonica Fine Foods, Lund’s Fisheries Incorporated, National Fisheries Institute Clam Committee, National Fisheries Institute Scientific Monitoring Committee, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Omega Protein, Seafreeze Limited, Sea Watch International, Surfside Seafood Products, and The Town Dock.

Read the release at SCeMFiS

MASSACHUSETTS: Marbleheader cleared in alleged fish smuggling plot

August 15, 2017 –A Marblehead businessman is asking the federal government to pay his attorney’s fees after being cleared of what he described as “being framed” by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Robert Kliss and his company North Atlantic Traders Ltd. was indicted in April, after a nearly five-year investigation. He was charged with smuggling, falsifying records and conspiracy.

In July, it took a jury only about an hour to clear him of all charges.

“This is a case the government never should have brought,” said Kliss’s Attorney Barry Pollack.

“I would have to say it was probably the most stressful thing I’ve very gone through,” Kliss said. “More so than an IRS audit and I’ve been through three.”

The Motion

In his motion for an award of attorney’s fees, which was filed in U.S. District Court Aug. 9, Pollack lays out all the ways the government’s case went wrong, including pressuring witnesses to, in some cases, exaggerate testimony and in one case invoke the Fifth Amendment.

Three cooperating witnesses pled guilty to a misdemeanor, “as the result of a hybrid charge and fact bargaining,” Pollack stated in his motion. “The government paid substantial consideration, in that respect, to each witness while pressuring him to provide testimony against Kliss.”

One of the most damning pieces of evidence against the government’s case however was when Agent Shawn Eusebio testified that during the more than four-year active investigation, no one on the government’s team realized Kliss wasn’t even in the country during the time he was alleged to have created and filed false documents in Massachusetts. Kliss had been in British Columbia with his son.

“My evidence was my stamped passport along with my son’s,” Kliss said. “That’s how bad the investigators and (prosecuting) attorneys are.”

Read the full story at the Marblehead Reporter

Read a statement from Stephen Ouellette, an attorney for North Atlantic Traders, here

 

 

North Atlantic Traders Acquitted on Smuggling and Conspiracy Charges in Less than One Hour of Jury Deliberation

August 15, 2017 — BOSTON — The following was released by Stephen Ouellette, attorney for North Atlantic Traders:

A 12-person federal jury acquitted federal tuna dealer North Atlantic Traders and its principal, Robert Kliss, on Lacey Act, smuggling and conspiracy charges in a case before District Judge William Young, investigated by the Department of Justice working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.   The jury reached its verdict of not guilty on all five counts against both defendants in less than a full hour of deliberation.

Barry Pollack of Boston, attorney for Kliss, added, “the federal agents engaged in misconduct by pressuring witnesses to make exaggerated statements, which the jury saw through.”

Stephen Ouellette of Gloucester, Massachusetts, attorney for North Atlantic Traders, said “the verdict of not guilty reflected more than two decades of regulatory compliance by my client and its dedication to a sustainable fishery.  That NOAA’s overzealous prosecution in this and other cases following closely on the heels of the highly critical assessment of NOAA law enforcement by the Department of Commerce Office of the Inspector General can only be seen as an attempt to justify NOAA’s enforcement budget at the expense of the fishing industry and fundamental principles of justice.”

For further information, contact Stephen Ouellette at 978-281-7788 or 978-317-2542.

Groundfish: NEFSC to Hold Port Meetings With Fishermen to Talk About Upcoming Assessments

August 14, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center has scheduled a series of port outreach meetings to talk with commercial and recreational fishermen about the upcoming operational assessments for 20 groundfish stocks. Here are the details.

WHAT’S GOING ON: Stock assessment and cooperative research staff from the science center will provide an informal explanation of the stock assessment process, the cooperative research program, and ways that industry concerns can be addressed by the science center. The center said, “We’re listening to what you have to say.”

WHERE ARE THE MEETINGS: Below is the list of confirmed meetings to date.  Additional information will be posted at meeting schedule.

  • August 15 in Chatham, MA – Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance: In the Barn, 4 p.m.
  • August 16 in New Bedford, MA – New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, 4 p.m.
  • August 17 in Portland, ME – Portland Fish Exchange, 3 p.m.
  • August 18 in Gloucester, MA – Sawyer Free Library, 2 Dale Ave., 10 a.m.
  • August 28 in Point Judith, RI – Superior Trawl/NESTCO Conference Room, 65 State St., 4 p.m.
  • August 30 in Montauk, NY – Details to be announced.

ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE AND DETAILS: The Groundfish Operational Assessments Peer Review is scheduled for September 11-15, 2017 at the science center in Woods Hole, MA.  Additional information is available at NEFSC.

QUESTIONS: Need to know more?  Contact Stock Assessment Outreach Coordinator Ariele Baker at (508) 495-4741, ariele.baker@noaa.gov.

Charter boat owners see jump in cancellations as cod ban takes effect

August 14, 2017 — A new rule that recreational anglers in the Gulf of Maine can’t keep cod they catch is putting the squeeze on the charter boat industry, business owners say.

Capt. Don Taylor runs a six-person charter boat out of Rye Harbor. He said he can see the scientific reasoning behind imposing the restriction, but says it is causing people to cancel their reservations — even though they can still keep haddock, cusk and hake.

“I don’t think not allowing us to have one cod per person on a boat is going to make any difference at all. That’s my opinion on it,” Taylor said. “I think they’re going a little overboard, myself, and it’s hurting the charter boat industry.”

Allison Ferreira, who is in charge of communications for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office in Gloucester, Mass., said the reason for the restriction is that recreational fishermen exceeded their cod catch limit by 92 percent last year.

Federal officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use estimates from the Marine Recreational Information Program to determine if a population is being overfished. In addition to getting reports from charter boat captains, they survey individuals who go out on their own boats.

Read the full story at the New Hampshire Union Leader

Despite guilty plea, Carlos Rafael continues to fish

August 14, 2017 — Gloucester fisherman and vessel owner Vito Giacalone is the chairman of governmental affairs, and sits on the board of directors of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, the umbrella organization that oversees a dozen sectors, including Rafael’s. Up until 2016, Rafael was also a coalition board member.

Giacalone believed that Rafael was simply too big to be allowed to fail, that his sector worked with NOAA to enact changes — including bringing in new board members and a new enforcement committee — that allowed them to stay in business.

Rafael’s vessels control considerable groundfish quota, up to 75 percent of what New Bedford holds, according to New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, and Rafael has said he has 280 employees.

“You don’t have to be too imaginative to see that that is an enormous collateral impact as soon as that operation is stopped in its tracks,” Giacalone said, estimating that as many as 80 fishermen would be immediately out of work.

“I wish Carlos Rafael had thought about that before he did what did,” said Hank Soule, manager of the Sustainable Harvest Sector in South Berwick, Maine.  “The bottom line is New Bedford is the richest port in the U.S. The loss of his groundfish boats won’t devastate the port.”

NOAA is reportedly working with Rafael’s legal team on an agreement that would have him selling off his vessels and permits and leaving fishing forever, including scallop and lobster vessels not involved in the fish smuggling scheme.

At least 13 vessels are scheduled to be forfeited to the government as part of the plea deal and Giacalone thinks NOAA may be trying to maintain the value of the assets by keeping them fishing.

“I think it would be clumsy of the sector to cause collateral damage that could be excessive to innocent third parties,” Giacalone said.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

NEFMC Bids Farewell to One Member, Welcomes Another

August 11, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council is bidding farewell to Mary Beth Tooley of Maine and welcoming a new face to the Council table – Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

On June 28, 2017, the Secretary of Commerce announced that three New England Council members, whose terms were scheduled to expire, had been reappointed to serve for another three years effective August 12, 2017.

  • Peter Kendall of New Hampshire was appointed to his third term on the Council;
  • Elizabeth “Libby” Etrie of Massachusetts was appointed to a second term; and
  • John Pappalardo of Massachusetts was appointed to a second term.

Terry Stockwell of Maine was appointed to fill the seat being vacated by Tooley, who had served three consecutive terms. Stockwell is the Council’s vice chairman and previously served as the state of Maine’s designated fisheries official to the Council. In June, however, Stockwell retired from state service following a 21-year career at DMR, and he now is beginning his first term as a secretarial appointee.

Read the full release at the NEFMC

Using Fishermen’s Ecological Knowledge to map Atlantic cod spawning grounds on Georges Bank

August 11, 2017 — The following abstract is from a research paper on Atlantic cod spawning grounds on Georges Bank. It was written by Gregory R. DeCelles, David Martins, Douglas R. Zemeckis, and Steven X. Cadrin, all from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It was published in the July-August 2017 issue of ICES Journal of Marine Science:

The spawning dynamics of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) on Georges Bank and Nantucket Shoals are not well understood. To address this uncertainty, we combined Fishermen’s Ecological Knowledge (FEK) with traditional scientific data to develop a more holistic understanding of cod spawning on Georges Bank. Data from historical reports, trawl surveys, fisheries observers, and ichthyoplankton surveys were used to describe the spatial and temporal distribution of cod spawning activity. We also collected FEK regarding cod spawning dynamics through semi-structured interviews (n = 40). The fishermen had detailed knowledge of the spatial and temporal distribution of cod spawning, and identified persistent fine-scale (i.e. <50 km2) spawning grounds that were often associated with specific habitat features, including spawning grounds that were previously unreported in the scientific literature. The spawning seasons and locations identified by fishermen generally agreed with information from traditional scientific data, but it was evident that seasonal scientific surveys lack the spatial and temporal resolution needed to fully characterize the distribution of cod spawning activity. Our results will help inform management measures designed to promote the rebuilding of Georges Bank cod, and also provide a basis for further investigations of cod spawning dynamics and stock structure.

Read the full paper at ICES Journal of Marine Science

MASSACHUSETTS: ‘Finest Kind’ film pays tribute to New Bedford fishing industry

August 10, 2017 — The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will host the world premiere of “Finest Kind: The New Bedford Fishing Industry” Sunday, Aug. 13, at 7 p.m. The screening will be held at Greasy Luck Brewery, 791 Purchase St., New Bedford. Doors open at 6 p.m.

A facilitated discussion with some of those featured in the film and director Kevin Kertscher will follow. Free parking is available on the street. The venue is wheelchair-accessible. The screening is free.

A year in the making, this original documentary was produced by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center. Written and directed by Kevin Kertscher of Big Ocean Media, the film interweaves interviews, historic and contemporary footage, and photographs to provide a sense of the rich history and culture of the New Bedford and Fairhaven fishing industry.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishermen’s Trust hosts third annual Meet the Fleet in Menemsha

August 10, 2017 — Crowds streamed along Menemsha’s docks last Thursday for the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust’s third annual Meet the Fleet, both a celebration of the Island’s fishing community and a fundraising event for the trust that supports it. “I think it was the best one yet,” trust director Shelly Edmundson said.

The three-hour event grossed approximately $20,000 from a silent auction, sponsorships, clothing sales, donations, rawbar sales, and tips given by the band Good Night Louise, which entertained visitors off the deck of Martha Elizabeth, a fishing boat owned by trust founder Wes Brighton.

The event included crab races, and shucking and net-mending competitions. The Coast Guard, environmental police, and numerous commercial fishing vessels — most of which the public could board — were on hand, along with the refurbished 20th century wooden draggers Roann and Little Lady. According to Ms. Edmundson, the Roann made the six-hour journey from its home at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, while the Little Lady still actively plies Vineyard waters.

Aaron Williams, who won the net-mending competition, brought his trawler Tradition to Menemsha, where it docked less than 100 feet from the Roann, his father’s former vessel—one Mr. Williams crewed on as a kid.

Read the full story at the Martha’s Vineyard Times