Saving Seafood

NEW BEDFORD STANDARD-TIMES: Rafael’s assets could fund observer program

June 18, 2017 — Any discussion of fishery management nowadays — official and casual alike — is likely to include musings on what should happen to the assets forfeited by Carlos Rafael as punishment for his recent crimes.

Mr. Rafael pleaded guilty to charges related to his falsifying landing records and laundering cash, and is scheduled to be sentenced in late July.

The courts are working to untangle the IRS and fisheries crimes, dealing with them at one time.

A careful distinction between tax penalties and fishing penalties must be made.

The penalties for the tax crimes will be arrived at through IRS rules and laws.

The penalties for fisheries crimes are stipulated in NOAA regulations. They provide great latitude in application, from a slap on the wrist to a permanent end of fishing for Carlos Seafood. The defense is making an argument that Mr. Rafael’s influence on the fishery is so important — due to his size — that economic harm to others would be too great if he were to be sanctioned too severely.

Infractions in the fishery will result in proceeds from fines and from 13 forfeited permits and vessels, and they should be applied toward remedies for the management system’s failures. Carlos Rafael’s criminal enterprises represent Exhibit 1 of those failures.

While his acknowledged cheating predates the current regulatory regime of sectors and quotas, certain vital aspects of the management of groundfish stocks remain inadequate, including compliance. Managers have been trying to force 100 percent monitoring on fishing trips, but the requirement that vessels cover the cost has prompted a lawsuit, ad hoc funding from the NOAA Fishery Science Center budget, and postponement of implementation. None has solved the problem, and only about 1 in 7 trips is observed. Fishermen may well be fishing differently with an observer, hewing closely to the rules when observed, only to resort to landing all they can when not. Researchers have been able to compare landings from the monitored trips against the others to make inferences about that difference, although Mr. Rafael’s schemes have confounded that effort to no small degree. Furthermore, the financial balancing act that seeks to ease the cost burden on the beleaguered industry could become a much less complicating factor if 100 percent electronic monitoring were to be implemented with those windfall funds.

Read the full opinion piece at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Changing perceptions about ‘under-loved’ species

June 16, 2017 — Rick Francolini took a poached skate wing caprese on toast from the server’s tray at Big Dog’s Barbecue at the Orleans Bowling Center.

“I’m a big skate fan,” he said. Francolini lived in Paris 25 years ago and it was considered a delicacy there. He’ll dust skate wings with corn meal, sauté it, then finish with a lemon caper pan sauce.

“It’s like a white fish. Very good tasting,” Francolini said.

But in the U.S., particularly in the Northeast where cod is god, other species like the skate and dogfish that Cape fishermen catch, are slighted.

Changing perceptions about what they describe as “under-loved” species is central to the marketing blitz put on the by Cape what the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, thanks to a $200,000 Saltonstall-Kennedy grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Cod has vanished thanks to climate change, overfishing, and other unknown factors. Chatham was once one of the country’s top cod ports. Located on the doorstep of Georges Bank, New England’s fish locker, whose abundance once seemed limitless, the region’s fishermen hauled in 27.5 million pounds in 2001, but saw that plummet to 2.9 million by 2015.

Cod didn’t even make the top 10 list of fish and shellfish landed by Cape fishermen in 2016, but dogfish was at the top with nearly 11.7 million pounds landed, and skates number three at 7.1 million pounds. But these do not have the star power of cod and restaurants and fish markets pay high prices for cod imported from the West Coast or Europe. The U.S. imports around 90 percent of the seafood it consumes, but dogfish and skates are mainly exported to Europe and Asia where there is demand.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Interior secretary visits Mass. to review marine monument

June 19, 2017 — Editor’s Note: At the request of the Department of the Interior, Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities helped facilitate a meeting between Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and over 20 representatives of the commercial fishing industry. The meeting also included staff members from the offices of Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI):

Capping off a four-day New England tour, US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke visited Boston Friday to meet with local scientists and fishermen in his review of the East Coast’s only — and highly controversial — marine monument.

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, located approximately 130 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, covers more than 4,000 square miles. It includes three underwater canyons and four seamounts — mountains rising from the ocean floor —housing dozens of deep-sea corals and several species of endangered whales.

Former president Barack Obama proclaimed the area the country’s first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean in September 2016. The Antiquities Act, signed into law in 1906 by national parks champion Theodore Roosevelt, grants presidents unilateral authority to establish national monuments on federal land.

But now, under President Trump, the fate of the underwater zone is in doubt.

Trump signed an executive order in April directing Zinke to review all national monuments designated over the past 21 years, calling the practice of using executive authority to designate such monuments an “abusive practice.”

Zinke met with scientists from the New England Aquarium and the Massachusetts marine monument’s superintendent from the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the morning, before heading to a roundtable with local fishermen.

“Right now, I’m in the information collection stage, so everything is on the table,” Zinke said.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Finding Fish Habitat: There’s a Map for That

June 16, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

Say you are in charge of a town with an eroding beach. You want to bring in 500,000 cubic yards of sand to rebuild your beach. Where are you going to get the sand?

When the town of Winthrop, Massachusetts wanted to rebuild their beach, they requested a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to get sand and gravel from an offshore site in Massachusetts Bay. After consulting with NOAA, the Army Corps denied the permit. The area happened to be “essential fish habitat” for 26 species of fish, including the much-prized Atlantic cod. With NOAA Habitat Conservation’s help, the Army Corps was able to point Winthrop to another source of sand that would not harm fish populations.

Every year, NOAA’s regional fisheries offices advise federal agencies on hundreds of projects, including the dredging of harbors, the filling of wetlands, the production of offshore energy, and fishing. These consultations ensure that projects funded by your tax dollars do not unwittingly damage “essential” marine habitats.

But, how does anyone know where the essential fish habitat (EFH) is?

It’s All about Location, Location, Location

This real estate mantra also applies to fish, shellfish, and other underwater creatures. Some species, like winter flounder, spawn in shallow waters with temperatures under 50°F. Others, like red crabs, spawn in depths of 200-1800 meters. Some fish need certain salinities or bottom cover, like gravel or cobble, to spawn, breed, feed, or grow (Figure 1).

The more of these small fish that survive to adulthood, the larger the populations of fish that will be available to sustain our fisheries.

To build our EFH Mapper, we first figured out where the essential fish habitats are through surveys. Then, we found out what the important parts of the habitat are – for one fish, it may be the silty bottom, while for another, the salinity or depth may be the key—and how the habitat feature could be affected by human activity. We worked with partners like the regional fishery management councils to use the best available scientific information to identify, describe, and map EFH.

Anyone who wants to do a project in the marine environment that may require a federal permit can see and download data for EFH maps. The maps also link to written descriptions for all the species and life stages managed in any of the seven NOAA Fisheries regions of the U.S.

One of the most useful features of the Mapper is a Location Query that allows a user to “drop a pin” on a specific location. The Mapper brings up a table listing all the species and life stages that are mapped at that location with descriptions for each one (Figure 3).

In the Greater Atlantic Region, our staff in the Habitat Conservation Division are continually updating the Mapper. The New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils provide information for updates to the EFH maps and text descriptions for the 37 species that they manage. We are also adding features to make it more useful to the public, such as more information on coastlines and estuaries, where salt water extends inland for miles.

Read the full release here

Interior secretary set to visit Boston as enviros launch marine monument campaign

June 16, 2017 — When Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke visits the Boston area on Friday, environmentalists plan to greet him by rallying for the preservation of national monuments that are under review by the Trump administration.

The former Montana congressman has an 11 a.m. press event at a Legal Sea Foods location, according to his office. The Bay State visit could also afford the interior secretary a chance to meet with the state’s top Republican, Gov. Charlie Baker, although nothing has been announced.

The fishing industry opposed President Barack Obama’s 2016 designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument on a roughly 4,900 square-mile area south of Cape Cod. The Obama administration had earlier removed Cashes Ledge, which sits about 80 miles off of Gloucester, from consideration as a possible site for the new national marine monument.

State Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matt Beaton told the News Service in May that he hopes there will be modifications to the Seamounts monument, which restricts fishing in the area about 150 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, but did not specify his preferences.

Environmentalists worry the review ordered by President Donald Trump in April could be a precursor to rolling back restrictions on natural lands and waters.

According to a Zinke press aide, the secretary on Friday will meet with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials and officials from the New England Aquarium about marine wildlife around the monument. The secretary will then attend a roundtable meeting with lobstermen and fishermen about the impact of the monument designation on their industry.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Legislators taste-test green crab in Gloucester

June 15, 2017 — State Senator Bruce Tarr and state Representative Brad Hill were among those who turned out at Tonno in Gloucester June 12 to try owner Anthony Caturano’s best soft-shell green crab dish. The tasting was the latest for the Ipswich-based Green Crab R&D Project , which is addressing the invasive species problem by creating a market for its use. In recent weeks, green crab also has appeared at the Ipswich Ale Brewery and at Woodman’s in Essex. “We’ve been on a full-court press to try to confront the green crab from an environmental perspective and an economic perspective, but if we can find a way to market them, then the market forces will control the population,” Tarr said. Caturano’s creation received high praise all around. “I’m a big seafood person,” Hill said, “and if you’re a fan of seafood, this is something you’re going to like.”

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Sharks should be happy about new Google Earth survey of seal populations

June 14, 2017 — Gray seals are booming. They’ve flocked to coastal Massachusetts, where hunters once killed the animals wholesale — a dead seal’s nose could fetch a $5 reward in the 1960s.

Twenty years ago, there were about 2,000 seals near Cape Cod and Nantucket. A new estimate, published Wednesday in the journal Bioscience, suggests there are now as many as 50,000.

‘‘We should be celebrating the recovery of gray seals as a conservation success,’’ said David Johnston, an author of the study and marine biologist at Duke University .

Where seals go, sharks often follow. Great white sightings in Cape Cod increased from 80 in 2014 to 147 in 2016. Johnston said the shark spike may be linked to the seals. ‘‘One of our tagged animals was killed by a white shark,’’ he said.

Maine and Massachusetts once placed bounties on seals because fishermen feared they would gobble up valuable fish such as cod. (There is little evidence that seals actually compete with fishermen, Johnston said.) The century-long bounty hunt claimed up to 135,000 animals.

The seals bounced back after 1972’s Marine Mammal Protection Act outlawed the killings. ‘‘I’m a firm believer if you just stop doing bad things to wildlife they will recover,’’ Johnston said. The seals’ recovery raised a question infrequently asked in conservation: What happens after success?

‘‘We haven’t done a great job of preparing people,’’ he said, ‘‘that they would be back again.’’

Part of that means quantifying the success. In 2011, a National Marine Fisheries Service aerial survey estimated 15,000 seals swam in southeastern Massachusetts waters.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

At U.N., Brett Tolley Touts Small-Scale Fisheries

June 14, 2017 — Fisheries activist Brett Tolley of Chatham has told many people about the plight of small-scale fishermen like his father, who left the industry because he couldn’t compete with big corporate interests. Last week, he told that story to world leaders in a special forum at the United Nations in New York.

A proud member of a fourth-generation fishing family, Tolley works as a community organizer and policy advocate for the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, which lobbies for healthy fisheries and fishing communities. Last week, at the invitation of the Slow Food International Network, Tolley testified as part of a panel at the U.N. Ocean Conference.

In contrast with fast food, Slow Food represents traditional and regional cuisine from local plants, livestock and seafood.

“It’s good, clean and fair food for all,” Tolley said. The movement was born around the same time as the agricultural crisis in the 1980s, acknowledging that high-volume, low-cost industrial farms were destroying small family farms and the communities they supported.

“The industrial food system is not working,” Tolley said. Mega-farms not only cause social problems, but they don’t actually achieve the goal of providing healthier food for the masses, he added. Intense industrial farming can also leave tracts of land unusable because of pesticides and other environmental threats. With small-scale farmers, “they inherently care about the health of the land,” Tolley said. The parallels between agriculture and commercial fishing are clear, with small-scale day boat fishermen battling against large corporations to stay profitable.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Chronicle

Tall Ships bringing Super Bowl-like security to Boston

June 14, 2017 — The city is bracing for massive security at this weekend’s Tall Ships extravaganza, with the historic event given the feds’ highest terror alert — Super Bowl-level — amid heightened concerns over ISIS attacks.

Homeland Security officers are set to meet today to go over the security net being planned for Sail Boston 2017. An estimated 2 million people are expected to attend the harborfest that kicks off Friday.

The dire warning comes after a suicide bombing in Manchester, England, in May that killed 22 concertgoers followed by an ambush around London Bridge that left seven dead earlier this month.

Former Boston police Commissioner Edward F. Davis, who now runs a security firm that will be working the event, said the worry is warranted.

“My police contacts and public safety contacts are telling me this is a very serious event,” Davis said. “There will be a significant show of force out there, no question. Due to the world situation they’ll see a significant increase in security personnel.”

A Coast Guard spokeswoman confirmed that the event, which runs from Friday to next Thursday, received a Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) of 1 from the Department of Homeland Security, the rating indicating the most risk for an event.

Level 1 events require extensive federal coordination and have significant national or international importance, and have included presidential visits and party nominating conventions.

In comparison, annual high-security events like the Boston Marathon or the Fourth of July parade are designated SEAR 2, Boston Police Department spokesman Lt. Michael McCarthy said, adding that other recent SEAR 1 events included the United Nations Assembly and the Rose Bowl Parade and game.

Read the full story at the Boston Herald

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Celebrates First Anniversary

June 13, 2017 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center invites the public to join us as we celebrate our 1st anniversary on June 24th and 25th.  The weekend will feature a model boat show, walking tours, performances of maritime music and storytelling, and anniversary cake. 

On Saturday, June 24th, Big Boats, Little Boats will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Center and on Pier 3.  This free event features a model boat show; walking tours of the working waterfront; a fishing vessel tour; mini-tugs dockside at Pier 3; and Center exhibits.  In addition, Whaling City Expeditions will offer harbor tours at a reduced rate with coupon. 

That evening, The Souls of the Sea Trio will perform from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The benefit concert takes place under a tent at the Center and features Allen Estes, Sal Baglio, and Matt Leavenworth. These three nationally acclaimed singers, songwriters, and musicians perform musical tributes to the lives and experiences of the fishermen of the North Atlantic and their families. Their original and musically diverse songs are a unique interpretation of life around the working waterfront. A cash bar will be available. Tickets for the concert are $20 and all proceeds benefit the Center.

On Sunday, June 25th, the public is invited to the anniversary party from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  The New Bedford Harbor Sea Chantey Chorus kicks off the event at 11:00 a.m. Following welcome remarks by Laura Orleans, Executive Director, and Phil Mello, Board Chair, anniversary cake by Ellen’s Creations and ice cream from the Ox Cart will be served.  Storyteller Jackson Gillman will perform at 12:45 p.m.  In addition, children’s craft activities will be available and the Ox Cart will be selling food and beverages.

The Center is grateful to BayCoast Bank and the National Endowment for the Arts for their generous support of these events.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the commercial fishing industry past, present, and future through exhibits, programs, and archives. The Center is open free of charge, Thursday through Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and is located at 38 Bethel Street, in the heart of the National Park. The Center is wheelchair accessible and has free off-street parking. For more information, please email programs@fishingheritagecenter.org or call the Center at (508) 993-8894.