Saving Seafood

Support groups tout new safety manual at New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center

May 16, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD — J.J. Bartlett, president of Fishing Partnership Support Services, said the most dangerous job in America isn’t firefighting or police work.

It’s commercial fishing, Bartlett claimed Tuesday at the new Fishing Heritage Center downtown. Bartlett said groundfishermen in the northeastern U.S. work in the most dangerous waters in the country — more hazardous than Alaska — and, from 2000 to 2009, were 37 times more likely to die on the job than police officers.

He said that figure came from a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and workforce data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Bartlett’s comments came at an event announcing the release of RESCUES — Responding to Emergencies at Sea and Communities Under Extreme Stress — a new safety and resources manual created by Fishing Partnership Support Services, the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership and other collaborators.

Madeleine Hall-Arber, an anthropologist with MIT’s Sea Grant College Program, is one of the manual’s authors. The MIT program funded the manual’s printing. Hall-Arber said at the Heritage Center that collaborators’ intent is to distribute the free manual to fishing boats and fishermen’s families across the region.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

‘Codfather’ pleads not guilty to fish conspiracy

May 13, 2016 — New Bedford fishing mogul Carlos Rafael pleaded not guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Worcester to conspiracy, lying to NOAA Fisheries about the exact species of fish he landed through a four-year span, and illegally smuggling cash out of the country.

Rafael, know widely as “The Codfather,” remains free on the $1 million bond set after his February arrest for conspiracy and submitting falsified records. The arrests of Rafael and his bookkeeper Debra Messier capped an undercover sting operation by federal authorities, some of whom posed as Russian mobsters looking to buy his business.

The 64-year-old Rafael, who appeared before Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy, controls one of the largest commercial fishing fleets in the United States and has been a powerful force in Northeast commercial fishing circles through his ownership of 32 fishing vessels and a block of 44 federal fishing permits with a value estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Prosecutors in Rafael case: Carlos Seafood’s transaction reports didn’t match up

May 11, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The FV Hera II, a boat that prosecutors said fishing fleet owner Carlos Rafael owned through a shell corporation, reported catching 4,595 pounds of haddock on Jan. 25, then selling it to Rafael’s Carlos Seafood business, a registered dealer, according to the indictment of Rafael that was unsealed Monday.

Carlos Seafood also recorded acquiring 840 pounds of American plaice, or “dabs,” from the Hera II that day, prosecutors said.

But here’s the rub: Records of Carlos Seafood’s third-party sales Jan. 25, according to the indictment, cite about 200 pounds of haddock and 5,200 pounds of dabs.

In other words, prosecutors allege, a lot of the fish caught by the Hera II on Jan. 25 and reported as “haddock” actually were dabs, which are subject to stricter regulatory quotas. Those quotas are administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and limit how much of certain species commercial fishermen can catch.

Catching more of a protected species than allowed can bring significant value on the black market.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Sheriff’s deputy charged with smuggling in fishing scheme

May 10, 2016 — BOSTON — A Bristol County sheriff’s deputy has been indicted on charges he helped a New Bedford fishing mogul smuggle profits out of the country.

Antonio Freitas, of Taunton, was arrested Monday for bulk cash smuggling and related crimes.

Prosecutors say Carlos Rafael, who owns Carlos Seafood, Inc., lied to federal authorities for years about the quantity and species of fish his boats caught to evade federal quotas.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Boston Globe

Carlos Rafael, New Bedford’s ‘Codfather’, indicted on 27 counts

May 9, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Local fishing magnate Carlos Rafael has been indicted by federal prosecutors for lying about fish catches and smuggling cash to Portugal through Logan airport in Boston, in a multi-year scheme involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to records filed last week and unsealed Monday.

The indictment lists 27 counts against Rafael, for charges including conspiracy, false entries and bulk cash smuggling. Rafael is alleged to have falsely reported the species of more than 815,000 pounds of fish to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) between 2012 and January of this year, according to the Office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz.

“On a yearly basis, Rafael’s routine falsification of dealer reports he submitted to NOAA created substantial discrepancies between the fishing activity he reported and the fish caught by his fishing vessels and acquired by Carlos Seafood,” the indictment states.

Bristol County Sheriff’s Office deputy Antonio M. Freitas, a Taunton resident, also is named in the indictment. Freitas is charged with two counts, one for bulk cash smuggling and one for international structuring.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

SMAST Fisheries scientists to present current cooperative research projects at Dock-u-mentaries program

May 9, 2016 — The Dock-U-Mentaries Film Series continues on Friday, May 20th at 7:00 PM with Fishing for Knowledge: Cooperative Research for Sustainable Fisheries in New England. Dock-u-entaries is a co-production of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, and the Working Waterfront Festival. Films about the working waterfront are screened on the third Friday of each month beginning at 7:00 PM in the theater of the Corson Maritime Learning Center, located at 33 William Street in downtown New Bedford. All programs are open to the public and presented free of charge.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Guide

Eric Hansen: Atlantic marine monument would harm fisheries

May 6, 2016 — With President Obama leaving office in less than a year, environmental groups have urged him to once again use executive authority via the Antiquities Act to declare a new marine national monument, this time in the Atlantic Ocean. Such a proposal, which circumvents all established rules and procedures, is fundamentally undemocratic, and would put a stranglehold on the commercial fishing industry.

A presidential declaration of a new national marine monument would result in potentially thousands of acres of prime fishing ground being closed off to fishermen. This would lead directly to increased costs for seafood processors, restaurants, and yes, seafood consumers. All of this will be done through a process that solicited little public input or stakeholder engagement and disregards the current, successful management process.

Such a declaration would also go against rules set out by President Obama himself. Specifically, Executive Order 13563 details the manner in which new regulations should be created and implemented. In that document, the guidelines were very clear: Regulations should not hinder the economy, should be implemented following public engagement and participation, should be based on best available science, and should be flexible.

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

Vessel owners fined for fishing in protected areas

May 4, 2016 — BOSTON — The owners of two fishing vessels paid civil fines after fishing in protected areas in 2013 and 2014.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration resolved the civil penalty cases after the crews of the vessels were found to have violated the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, according to a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Following up on a referral from NOAA law enforcement officers, on March 21, 2014, a crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod spotted the fishing vessel Warrior, of New Bedford, fishing for scallops in Closed Area II Essential Fish Habitat, according to the release. The area, about 120 miles east of Cape Cod, is one of five closed fishing areas in New England that cover 8,000 square miles of protected waters, according to the release.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Massachusetts: Fishing Heritage Center Launches Effort to Digitize Community History

May 3, 2016 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

New Bedford, MA— May is National Preservation Month, a time when people across America celebrate their history, culture, and special places. The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will host two free events dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of the local fishing community.

On Tuesday, May 10th at 7:00 p.m., the Center hosts an Industry Antiques Road Show. Several members of the fishing community will display family photographs, documents, and artifacts and share stories about how the industry and community have changed over time.  This event will be held at the Fishing Heritage Center (38 Bethel Street, New Bedford) providing attendees with a sneak peek of the space which opens to the public on June 25th.

On Saturday, May 21st at New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park (33 William Street, New Bedford) the Center will hold a Fishing Heritage Digitizing Day from 11:00-3:30. Fishing community members are invited to bring photographs, documents and/or artifacts reflecting their fishing heritage. These items will be scanned and/or photographed to create a digital record.  Preservation specialists will provide advice about preserving your past and industry experts will help identify people and places in photographs. An oral historian will record community stories.

Those who participate by sharing their photographs, documents, or artifacts will be given a USB drive containing the scanned images of their materials.  Digital files will be archived at UMASS Boston, UMASS Dartmouth, the New Bedford Public Library and the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center.

These events are part of Salted, Pickled, or Smoked: Preserving & Presenting the Cultural Heritage of the New Bedford/Fairhaven Fishing Community, a year-long effort to digitize the cultural heritage of New Bedford’s fishing community. The project is a collaboration involving the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, University Archives and Special Collections at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Clair T. Carney Library at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MIT Sea Grant, the New Bedford Public Library, and New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. Funding for this project is provided through a Common Heritage Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Regulators Consider How To Save Southern New England Lobster

May 2, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Interstate fishing regulators will consider authorizing new tools to address southern New England’s declining lobster population.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board will consider the status of the fishery on Monday. The board will discuss a potential motion to create new management measures that address the lobsters’ decline.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at CBS Boston