Saving Seafood

Former seafood wholesaler indicted on tax evasion

July 14, 2017 — A former New Bedford seafood wholesaler was indicted Thursday on two counts of failing to file a tax return and one count of filing a false tax return.

George Esturdante, former owner of Basic Fisheries in Marion, didn’t file tax returns in 2010 or 2011 despite receiving more than $3 million in payments during the two-year period, according to court documents.

Estudante, who currently resides in Virginia, but lived in Marion, also falsely submitted his 2012 tax return, the indictment said.

The indictment states Estudante held a bank account at BayCoast Bank for Basic Fisheries. In 2010, he deposited $1,418,629 into the account. In 2011, he deposited $1,607,726 into the account, the indictment said.

In neither year did Estudante file a tax return.

Then in 2012, he swore on his return that he received approximately $533,078 in gross receipts when his bank account stated he received $744,461.41.

The charge of failing to file an income tax return involves a maximum of one year in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $25,000

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Fishermen will be allowed to catch more monkfish

July 17, 2017 — Federal fishing regulators will allow fishermen to catch a little bit more monkfish over the next three years.

The monkfish, also known as goosefish is a popular food fish that’s native to the East Coast. They’re a staple of displays in New England fish markets, where they often stick out because of their bizarre appearance.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it’s increasing the monkfish quota in the northern fishery management area by 8 percent. The quota’s going up in the southern fishery area by 1 percent.

Monkfish are caught from Maine to Virginia, with most of the catch coming to shore in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The harvest was worth more than $19 million in 2015.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

MASSACHUSETTS: Fish Fry Fundraiser to benefit Fishing Heritage Center

July 17, 2017 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will hold its second annual Fish Fry Fundraiser on Friday, July 22nd from 6-11 pm at Cotali Mar Restaurant (1178 Acushnet Avenue).

Guests will enjoy platters of fresh local fish donated by Bergie’s Seafood and prepared by the chefs at Cotali Mar. Live music will be provided by Paul Savoie and Richie Canastra. The event will include a cash bar, and silent and live auctions. Tickets are $35 ($15 for kids 12 and under) and may be purchased by phone or in person at the Center or on line through the Center’s Facebook page. All proceeds will benefit the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, a 501c3 non-profit organization. For more information contact the Center at 508-993-8894 or info@fishingheritagecenter.org.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center opened to the public on June 25th. Current hours of operation are Thursday-Sunday 10-4. Located at 38 Bethel Street in the heart of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, the Center’s inaugural exhibit From Boat to Table presents all aspects of the industry from the time a keel is laid on a vessel to the time the catch is landed and brought to market. A variety of interactive components include a net mending activity, dress up area, and Eastern Rig style pilothouse designed and built by Fairhaven Shipyard with electronics provided by Furuno USA.

During 2016 the Center will continue to present Dock-u-mentaries, its monthly film/speaker series and Something Fishy, its free summer camp program presented in collaboration with the National Park and Whaling History Alliance. Weekly cruise ship programs and fishermen-led walking tours will be offered during the summer months.  A variety of public programs including author readings, talks, occupational demonstrations, and performances will be presented.  The Center is also working in collaboration with MIT Sea Grant, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Boston, and the New Bedford Free Public Library on a year-long initiative to create a digital archive of fishing community history with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The 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. For more information visit www.fishingheritagecenter.org.

Court documents suggest Carlos Rafael may sell all permits

July 17, 2017 — Documents filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday suggest that Carlos Rafael’s time as the New Bedford’s “codfather” may be coming to an end.

As part of a motion requesting a sentencing delay, Rafael’s attorney sought “additional time to resolve a critical component” in the case, specifically, “the possibility of a global settlement, which may involve Mr. Rafael exiting the commercial fishing business.”

The request suggests not only the 13 permits subject to forfeiture, but all of Rafael’s fishing permits may wind up with someone else before the sentencing.

″… The parties need additional time to resolve this issue — the result of which may be a critical component of the defendant’s argument to the court at sentencing and may obviate the need for briefing and hearing on the forfeiture issues left open in the plea agreement,” according to court documents.

The parties include Rafael’s defense and counsel for NOAA.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Seafood exec escapes jail time

July 14, 2017 — A senior sales executive at a Gloucester seafood processing company avoided jail time, but will spend the next six months under home confinement and must pay restitution of $25,879 after his federal sentencing Thursday for tax fraud.

Richard J. Pandolfo, 71, who lives in North Andover and has been an executive vice president at National Fish & Seafood on Parker Street, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns to a year’s probation, with six months to be served in home confinement.

The judge also assessed a fine of $5,000 and ordered Pandolfo to pay restitution to the IRS for the amount he had failed to pay on “supplemental income” he had received from the company and former National Fish executive and part-owner Jack Ventola between 2008 and 2012.

Pandolfo was indicted in June 2016 by a federal grand jury on four counts of filing false tax returns. As part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, the charges were reduced to a single count. But he still faced a federal prison term of up to three years and a fine of up to $100,000 in addition to the restitution when he stood for sentencing Thursday.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Pandolfo failed to pay federal tax on about $90,000 of the $95,000 in supplemental income he received from Ventola from 2008 to 2012. According to the original indictment, some of the supplemental pay went directly to Pandolfo, while other payments went to a shell interior design company established in the name of Pandolfo’s wife. Pandolfo’s wife was not charged in the indictment.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center to host Seafood Throwdown

July 17, 2017 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, in collaboration with the Port of New Bedford, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, Mass in Motion New Bedford, and New Bedford Farmers’ Market, is pleased to present a Seafood Throwdown on Thursday, July 27, 2017. Funded through a Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries grant secured by the Port of New Bedford, this free event will take place beginning at 5:30 p.m. in Custom House Square located in downtown New Bedford. This evening also marks the launch of the New Bedford Seafood brand by the Port of New Bedford.

Chef Edward Roszak, Executive Chef at How on Earth, and Chef Joe Rego, Executive Chef at Cask and Pig Kitchen and Alehouse, will compete to create a winning dish using a surprise, locally caught seafood ingredient and local produce purchased at the New Bedford Farmers’ Market. The secret ingredient is an abundant, underappreciated, and underutilized species of seafood.

Judging their creations will be Chef Chris Cronin, Executive Chef at Farm & Coast Market and two-time Seafood Throwdown Champion; Dan Medeiros of the Herald News and contributor to the Dine Out column in the Standard-Times’ Coastin’; and Diane Nanfelt, co-owner of Kyler’s Catch Seafood Market.

Seafood Throwdowns are a collaboration between the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance and fishing communities, providing a unique opportunity for the public to learn more about our local seafood, local fishing fleet, and fisheries related issues. The chefs can bring three of their favorite ingredients. When the secret seafood ingredient is revealed, they are given $25 and 15 minutes to shop the New Bedford Farmers’ Market for additional ingredients. After their shopping spree, they have one hour to cook and present their entry for the judges’ consideration. LImited sampling will be available for audience members.  This year’s secret ingredient is generously donated by Kyler’s Catch Seafood Market.

Through a grant with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, the Port of New Bedford created a New Bedford Seafood logo to better brand the seafood landed in the Port of New Bedford – the #1 fishing port in the country by value.  A website will also be launched as a central location for buyers to find and directly connect with all of New Bedford’s fish processors and wholesalers.

MASSACHUSETTS: Seals die within days of each other at Woods Hole Aquarium

July 14, 2017 — The Woods Hole Science Aquarium is mourning the loss of its two beloved harbor seals, Bumper and LuSeal.

They died within 11 days of each other, and the causes of their deaths are unknown, officials said. The aquarium announced that it would be closed Friday and Saturday to allow time for the staff to recoup.

The two seals came from different states — LuSeal was stranded on Cape Cod in 2002 when she was just a month old, and Bumper was found on a South Hampton, N.Y., beach after being wounded by a shark in 2007 — and fate led them to live together at the aquarium’s modernized seal habitat, where they swam, ate, and sunned themselves, as seals are wont to do.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: Local Fishermen Applaud New NOAA Fisheries Administrator Appointment

July 14, 2017 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently announced a new assistant administrator for fisheries. The fishing community, including here on the Cape, largely applauded the nomination of Chris Oliver, who comes from the Alaska fishery.

WCAI’s Kathryn Eident talked with Cape Cod C0mmercial Fishermen’s Alliance CEO John Pappalardo to learn more about the appointment.

Read and listen to the full story at WCAI

MASSACHUSETTS: Sixth Annual Boston Seafood Festival

July 13, 2017 — The following was released by the Boston Seafood Festival:

The sixth annual Boston Seafood Festival, the biggest and tastiest seafood event of the summer, takes over Boston’s historic Fish Pier on Sunday, August 13, 2017 from 11am–7:00pm.

Presented by Boston Fisheries Foundation, Boston Seafood Festival combines a terrific family friendly day of delicious seafood sampling, live music, local chef demonstrations, children’s activities and more with a rare opportunity to learn more about preserving Boston’s essential seafood and maritime heritage.

“We encourage everyone to visit our annual must attend seafood event just brimming with New England favorites like our all day lobster bake, the legendary battle of the shuckers, and great seafood sampling from Boston’s finest seafood vendors,” said Chris Basile, president of Boston Fisheries Foundation. He added, “It’s also a great way to celebrate Boston’s heritage as the seafood hub of our country by engaging with entertaining educational exhibits and demonstrations by real working fishermen right from the dock at Fish Pier.”

Tickets are $15.00 and are available at http://www.bostonseafoodfestival.org/. Proceeds underwrite Boston Seafood Festival and in part support the work of the Boston Fisheries Foundation, a not for profit organization which preserves and protects the local seafood industry’s long term viability as well as safeguards the ocean’s present and future natural resources.

Event highlights also include food for purchase, a blessing of the fleet, notable speakers, face painting, costumed characters, among other festivities.

The Boston Seafood Festival is presented by Boston Fisheries Foundation along with generous sponsors that include; Massport, Harpoon, Stavis Seafoods, Channel Fish, The

John Nagle Company, Quarterdeck, JCDecaux, Carpenter’s Union, Ipswich Clambake, East Boston Savings Bank, and F.J. O’Hara & Son’s. Boston Seafood Festival is managed and produced by Conventures, Boston’s leading events management and communications agency.

For more information and a complete list of activities, please visit http://bostonseafoodfestival.org.

NEW BEDFORD STANDARD-TIMES: Under-loved fish need a home right here

July 12, 2017 — A recent report from the social policy researchers at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole shed some light on what happens to local fish after its caught by commercial fishermen.

The report is part of ongoing research, and has yet to be finalized in an academic paper, but the first findings indicate that most of the groundfish landed in NOAA’s Northeast region is sold and consumed locally. And it’s no surprise that most of the scallops landed are shipped around the country and the world.

Trucks carry much of the groundfish landed between Maryland and Maine, hauling along the coast and inland for 75 or 100 miles. Some is frozen and shipped far away, but the fish we buy locally is frequently locally caught.

Cod, haddock, pollock and different flounders find their way into local restaurants, fish markets and grocery stores, then onto local plates.

The local consumption of this groundfish is a function of the difficulty of NOAA Fisheries’ management of the multispecies fishery that includes about 20 different species. The complex interplay between abundant and scarce species that intermingle has thwarted attempts to harvest the Total Allowable Catch of the abundant species and confounded attempts to avoid the scarce ones. Groundfish landings today are a shadow of those from the early 1980s.

Even as traditional regional species have become harder to harvest, new species have moved into warming state and federal waters managed by the Northeast Fisheries Management Council, which is the management arm of federal fisheries management in this region. Skate and spiny dogfish have become the abundant species, and their harvest is less complicated than those from among the traditional groundfish stocks. But skate wings don’t get the price at the dock of those other species. Last Friday at the local seafood auction, skate wings fetched 30 cents a pound; flounder, cod and haddock were all paying 5 to 10 times that at the dock, some 20 times more.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times