Saving Seafood

BASE auction withdraws its bid to buy Carlos Rafael’s boats

January 10, 2020 — An attempt to gain control of a large portion of Carlos Rafael’s fleet by the local seafood auction has been withdrawn after a fight over the vessels made its way to court.

Buyers and Sellers Exchange (BASE), the seafood display auction on the city’s waterfront, attempted to take over an existing deal negotiated by Blue Harvest Fisheries for a number of Carlos Rafael’s groundfish vessels, Blue Harvest CEO Keith Decker told The Standard-Times in December.

However, since then BASE has withdrawn their bid on the vessels, and Blue Harvest Fisheries’ original deal is back in place, according to both BASE and Decker.

The fight is an important one as New Bedford is trying to keep the fishing and scallop boats, as well as their federal permits, in the city. Though both entities have pledged to do that, Blue Harvest would consolidate ownership and BASE has said it would resell the boats to individual owners.

In a press release sent out on Thursday, BASE said, “Unfortunately the folks that encouraged BASE to move forward have now withdrawn their commitments, due to Blue Harvest’s litigation.”

Blue Harvest filed a civil suit against Carlos Rafael and the fishing corporations associated with his fishing vessels on December 23, after BASE had exercised their Right of First Refusal to their purchase, and listed BASE as an interested party in the suit, according to court documents.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Bregal’s Blue Harvest set for 15 Rafael vessel deal after Canastras withdraw offer

January 8, 2020 — Richard and Raymond Canastra, the founders and owners of the Buyers and Sellers Exchange (BASE), the seafood auction in New Bedford, Massachusetts, have withdrawn their offer for convicted former commercial fishing mogul Carlos Rafael’s 15 groundfish vessels, essentially giving the boats and their related permits to Blue Harvest, Undercurrent News has learned.

The details are as scant as the three sentences contained in an email sent by one of the attorneys to the others involved in the highly contentious fight to acquire the vessels, a copy of which has been obtained by Undercurrent News.

“BASE has provided notice to the Rafaels that they are not moving forward with the transaction. Blue Harvest is free to complete the transaction with Rafaels. Kindly forward a stipulation of dismissal of the Blue Harvest matter,” reads the email.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Rafael has deals for four more vessels, brings fleet fire sale close to completion

January 8, 2020 — Carlos Rafael has moved another step closer to completely removing himself from the New England commercial fishing scene, successfully unloading at least four more of his groundfish vessels, Undercurrent News has learned.

Between the Thanksgiving and Christmas 2019 holidays, according to sources, Rafael’s family and his New Bedford, Massachusetts-based attorney, John Markey, Jr., have succeeded in helping the former fishing mogul sell the:

  • Bulldog (a 22-year old, 75.4-foot vessel with a 855 HP engine) for $1.4 million;
  • Hera (a 31-year-old, 80.2-foot vessel with a 850 HP engine) for $1.2m;
  • Drake (a 30-year-old, 77.7-foot vessel with a 575 HP engine) for $1m; and
  • the Hercules (a 36-year-old, 76.1-foot vessel with a 575-HP engine) for $800,000.

Each vessel maintains small to large amounts of quota on the northern Atlantic Coast for cod, haddock, plaice, redfish, hake, flounder and/or pollock.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Northern Wind nears opening for new 38,000 square-foot facility, receives commerce award

January 8, 2020 — Northern Wind, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A., is nearing completion on a state-of-the-art 38,000-square-foot processing and freezing facility on the New Bedford waterfront.

The new facility represents a significant expansion of the company, which is a direct off-loader, processor, and distributor of fresh and frozen scallops. According to a release from the company, the new expansion represents a USD 12 million (EUR 10.7 million) investment.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MASSACHUSETTS: New scalloper vessel, with unique shape, joins fleet in New Bedford

January 2, 2020 — A unique new fishing boat joins the fleet in New Bedford.

The scalloper Viking Power is now docked at Fish Island.

The different shape of the orange boat is what most people probably notice first.

“It’s designed to cut through the water better, to be more fuel efficient,” says the boat’s captain, Marty Harris.

Harris brought the Viking Power up from Alabama where it was built.

“Seemed like it didn’t slow down as much going into the weather and it seemed like it didn’t roll as much going into the weather,” Harris told NBC 10.

The weather it will likely face is 15 to 20 foot seas as scallop boats fish about 150 miles off shore.

“You’d probably be scared for your life,” Harris says of those kinds of conditions.

To him, though, “Just a day at work.”

Read the full story at NBC 10

MASSACHUSETTS: 2020 Exhibits and Programs at New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center

January 2, 2020 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

In 2020, New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will launch “We Came to Fish, We Came to Work,” a series of exhibits and programs exploring the rich cultural heritage of New Bedford’s fishing industry. The Port of New Bedford has long drawn immigrants from around the world. Despite differences in language and culture, a highly-valued fishing industry developed, drawing on the strengths of immigrants from all over the world including the Azores, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Guatemala, Newfoundland, Norway, Nova Scotia, and Portugal. Cultural traditions of these various immigrant groups including needlework, ceramics, holiday practices, music, and recipes are still practiced today. Through two temporary exhibits, cooking and craft demonstrations, performances, film screenings, and panel discussions, the Center will consider why people chose to leave their homeland, what fishing was like in the old country, what brings people to New Bedford, and in what ways their cultural heritage has endured.

These exhibits and programs are funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Creative Commonwealth Initiative, and Dartmouth and New Bedford Cultural Council grants.

The first related programs will be “Stories of Immigration Scanning Days” on January 11th and February 8th from 10:00am- 12:00pm. Community members are encouraged to bring in any photographs, documents, or objects related to their own stories of immigration or enduring cultural heritage traditions.These items will be scanned and documented by Fishing Heritage Center staff and volunteers. Such items help the Center tell a more complete story of immigration and cultural heritage in New Bedford’s working waterfront.

Music is an integral part of a community’s cultural heritage, and the Fishing Heritage Center will host several concerts throughout the year that reflect these traditions. On Saturday, February 8th at 7:00pm, Golden Lane, a traditional Irish dance music group, will perform at the Fishing Heritage Center. Tickets are $10/ members, $12/ general public. On Wednesday, March 11th at 7:00pm, Matthew Byrne, a traditional singer, storyteller, and guitarist from Newfoundland, will perform at the Center. Tickets are $12/ members, $15/ general public. Tickets for both concerts are available at Brown Paper Ticket links accessible through the Center’s website calendar, by calling the Center at 508-993-8894, or at the Center’s gift shop.

For more information on these upcoming exhibits or programs, email programs@fishingheritagecenter.org.

MASSACHUSETTS: US auction owners seek to spoil Blue Harvest’s deal for Rafael groundfish vessels

December 26, 2019 — Carlos Rafael’s remaining fleet of as many as 35 groundfish vessels and skiffs in the US port city of New Bedford, Massachusetts, may not be under Blue Harvest Fisheries’ Christmas tree after all.

Richard and Raymond Canastra, the founders and owners of the Buyers and Sellers Exchange (BASE), a nearly 26-year-old seafood auction house, also in New Bedford,  informed the members of New England fishing sector 7 on Friday that they are taking advantage of the group’s right of first refusal (ROFR) rules to seek acquisition of the vessels and their related permits, Undercurrent News has learned from its sources.

Additionally, the Canastras have filed another challenge to Rafaels’ earlier sale of six scallop boats and their related permits to Quinn Fisheries, a longtime New Bedford-based scalloping company, this time in federal court.

Undercurrent reported late last month how documents showed Blue Harvest, a US scallop and groundfish supplier backed by New York City-based private equity Bregal Partners, had signed a purchase agreement to buy the Rafael fleet and all of their associated permits for nearly $25 million. The deal includes millions of pounds of quota for at least eight types of fish in the northeast multispecies fishery, including cod, haddock, American plaice, witch flounder, yellowtail flounder, redfish, white hake and pollock.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

US auction owners seek to spoil Blue Harvest’s deal for Rafael groundfish vessels

December 23, 2019 — Carlos Rafael’s remaining fleet of as many as 35 groundfish vessels and skiffs in the US port city of New Bedford, Massachusetts, may not be under Blue Harvest Fisheries’ Christmas tree after all.

Richard and Raymond Canastra, the founders and owners of the Buyers and Sellers Exchange (BASE), a nearly 26-year-old seafood auction house in New Bedford, Massachusetts, informed the members of New England fishing sector 7 on Friday that they are taking advantage of the group’s right of first refusal (ROFR) rules to seek acquisition of the vessels and their related permits, Undercurrent News has learned from its sources.

Additionally, the Canastras have filed another challenge to Rafaels’ earlier sale of six scallop boats and their related permits to Quinn Fisheries, a longtime New Bedford-based scalloping company, this time in federal court.

Undercurrent reported late last month how documents showed Blue Harvest, a US scallop and groundfish supplier backed by New York City-based private equity Bregal Partners, had signed a purchase agreement to buy the Rafael fleet and all of their associated permits for nearly $25 million. The deal includes millions of pounds of quota for at least eight types of fish in the northeast multispecies fishery, including cod, haddock, American plaice, witch flounder, yellowtail flounder, redfish, white hake and pollock.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Viking Power: New Bedford scallop boat launches in Alabama with a ‘positive energy bow’

December 23, 2019 — Lars Vinjerud II can’t stop growing his fisheries and seafood business. “I’m lucky,” he says. “I’ve got a lot of good people working for me.”

Vinjerud’s company Fleet Fisheries in New Bedford, Mass., has 14 boats in the scallop, lobster and longline fisheries, and branches in the seafood marketing, a machine shop and more boats scheduled for construction. “Ya just keep rolling,” he says.
Vinjerud’s newest contribution to the New Bedford waterfront is the Viking Power, a vessel that is definitely outside the box. The Viking Power is 106 feet long, has a beam of 30 feet and draws around 14 feet, and catches the eye immediately because of its unique bow shape, which slants down forward into the water.

“I’ve been drawing this boat for 20 years,” says Vinjerud. “I took the design to Williams Fabrication [in Bayou La Batre, Ala.]and we took it to a company called C. Fly Marine. And they modeled it going 6 or 8 knots in 15-foot seas.” According to Vinjerud, the bow cuts through waves and reduces the motion of the vessel, giving the crew a safer more comfortable work platform.

“I call it the positive energy bow,” says Vinjerud. “Like how in judo you use the other person’s energy in your favor.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Northern Wind’s $12m plant expansion makes room for more scallops, other products

December 19, 2019 — Northern Wind is already one of the three largest processors, distributors and direct offloaders of fresh and frozen scallops in North America, but its recently announced $12 million plant expansion in New Bedford, Massachusetts, promises to also make it an even larger player in both the scallop and overall seafood space, CEO George Kouri tells Undercurrent News.

The 32-year-old company revealed this week that it is in the process of completing construction on what will be a 38,000 square foot processing facility with a 21,600 square foot freezer capable of holding up to 5.5m pounds of seafood. That’s 11 times the company’s previous freezer holding capacity.

The new freezer is already up and running, and the rest of the facility could be ready to roll shortly after New Year’s Day, Kouri said.

Northern Wind, which opened some 32 years ago, is already processing some 18m lbs of scallops annually, buying all of the scallops produced by some 70 vessels with which the company has 30+ year agreements. Though imports account for between 25% and 30% of annual scallop sales.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News