Saving Seafood

New Bedford Standard-Times: Time for NOAA and Sector IX to strike deal

February 20, 2018 — Eighty New Bedford groundfishermen.

They’ve had no work now for almost three months.

In the end, those are the guys and it is their families who are paying the biggest price for Carlos Rafael’s longtime conspiracy to falsify fishing records and smuggle the cash overseas.

But since Rafael was the big guy on the New Bedford waterfront, the guy who owns the majority of the boats in Sector IX, the fishermen have been out of work since Nov. 20 when regional NOAA administrator John Bullard ordered the sector to stop fishing.

Bullard said that Sector IX has not accounted for the overages their group racked up while Rafael was mislabeling more than 700,000 pounds of fish. He has also argued that the reorganized sector has not enacted better enforcement provisions to prevent a repeat of the criminal activity.

For their part, Sector IX’s lawyer, Andrew Saunders, points out that Rafael was able to engage in his wrongdoing because he controlled both the fishing boats and was also the fish dealer (Carlos Seafood). That is no longer the case because all fish caught by Rafael’s boats must now be processed at the Whaling City Seafood Display Auction.

Saunders further pointed out to NOAA that the agency is aware that it is virtually impossible for Sector IX to determine the overages while the IRS is in possession of Rafael’s records until the start of the next fishing season in May. Still, in a Dec. 20 letter, Saunders, wrote NOAA that the sector is working to compile accounting for the misallocations of fish.

Complicating the whole scenario is who is going to control Rafael’s groundfish and scallop boats going forward as the federal judge has ordered him out of the commercial fishing business. Richard and Ray Canastra, owners of the display auction, have offered Rafael $93 million for 42 fishing permits and 28 boats, a deal that would keep the fishing effort in New Bedford, and the 80 fishermen employed. Not to mention all the New Bedford fishing supply and seafood processing operations that are dependent on Rafael’s fleet.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Commercial fishermen question wind farm video

February 16, 2018 — BOSTON — Offshore wind proponents are touting new undersea footage that suggests a vibrant marine habitat is growing around the nation’s first offshore wind farm — a five-turbine operation off Rhode Island’s waters.

The American Wind Energy Association, an industry trade group, says the roughly two-minute clip it posted on YouTube this week shows the potential for the nation’s fishing industry as larger projects are envisioned up and down the East Coast.

“The turbine foundations are now acting as an artificial reef,” said Nancy Sopko, the wind energy association’s director of offshore wind and federal legislative affairs. “This is a success story that can be replicated all along our coastlines.”

But the video does little to temper the concerns of commercial fishermen, who are worried about navigating dense forests of turbines to get to their historic fishing grounds, says Jim Kendall, a former scallop fisherman in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

“This is nice and fun to see, but it doesn’t tip the conversation,” Seth Rolbein, of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance in Chatham, Massachusetts, said of the video.

Offshore wind developers from New England to the Carolinas are racing to build the nation’s first large-scale wind farm. Many of the projects call for hundreds of turbines to be built miles away from shore, sometimes within or along the path to lucrative fishing spots.

The wind energy association video shows beds of mussels taking shape and small fish swimming around the turbine bases. The brief underwater footage is juxtaposed with longer testimonials from local recreational fishermen and charter boat owners who say the Deepwater Wind project has been a boon for them since opened it more than a year ago.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Coast Guard saves crew of 4 from sinking New Bedford vessel

February 15, 2018 — A New Bedford-based fishing vessel sank Wednesday night off Martha’s Vineyard, but its crew of four is fine thanks to their fast action in taking safety measures, the Coast Guard said.

The Sea Star radioed about 6:20 p.m. that it was quickly taking on water, listing heavily and crew members were donning their survival suits, Petty Officer Nicole Groll, a Coast Guard public affairs specialist said about 9:10 p.m. Wednesday.

A Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter and plane from Sector Southeastern New England, in the area for a training exercise, were diverted to the scene, Groll said. Determining that the vessel couldn’t be saved, the Coast Guard ordered the crew into the waters about 18 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, where they plucked them to safety via basket, she said.

The water temperature was 37 degrees, with 5-foot seas and 20 to 25 knot winds, making conditions difficult, Groll said.

The crew members were airlifted to Air Station Cape Cod where they were checked out by medical personnel and pronounced in good health, she said.

“The most important thing the crew did was to activate their EPIRB” (a positioning beacon) and don their survival suits, said Scott Backholm, the command duty officer at Sector Southeastern New England. While the EPIRB automatically goes off when a boat is sinking, the fact that they had the presence of mind to activate it before that “allowed us to get their exact location and get to them as quickly as possible,” he said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

One Square Mile: New Bedford’s Scallop Industry Is Thriving, But Is It Sustainable?

February 14, 2018 — Is the scallop fishery well-managed? Most people, including scallop fishermen, scientists, and environmentalists, had the same answer: yes.

“I think the harvest is being managed, compared to any other fishery in New England, fabulously,” Peter Shelley, senior counsel at Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental advocacy group, said.

The majority agree that the New England Fishery Management Council is doing a good job at keeping the scallop population sustainable and allowing fishermen to make a good living.

Last year, commercial fishermen landed more than $300 million worth of fish at the Port of New Bedford, and 85 percent of that value came from scallops.

Michael Quinn, whose family has been in the scallop fishing industry for 30 years, said he believes the industry is well-managed partly because of the collaboration between fishermen and researchers.

“We get to take scientists directly on our vessels,” Quinn said. “We go out to sea with them. We’re living with these people for a week at a time doing all the data together.”

Data on the scallop population is collected through drop camera surveys. That’s when scientists attach cameras to a big, metal, square frame and drop it to the bottom of the ocean. They take pictures of the scallops and then scientists on the management council’s Plan Development Team use that data to help figure out how much fishermen can catch and which areas should be opened or closed for fishing.

Read the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio

 

One Square Mile FORUM: After the Codfather

February 14, 2018 — Before he pleaded guilty to flouting federal catch limits and smuggling money, Carlos Rafael, nicknamed “the Codfather,” controlled the largest groundfishing fleet that sailed out of New Bedford. How are the city’s fishing industries moving forward after the trial? What does the future hold for groundfishing and other fisheries? What are the biggest promises and challenges? What lessons can be learned from Carlos Rafael?

REGISTRATION IS FREE, BUT REQUIRED : REGISTER NOW THROUGH EVENTBRITE

Join Rhode Island Public Radio and UMass-Dartmouth for a public forum to discuss these and other topics related to New Bedford’s fishing industry.

WHEN:  Wednesday, February 21st from 6:00 to 7:00 PM.

View the whole announcement at Rhode Island Public Radio

 

Massachusetts: Sunken boats owned by ‘Codfather’ now back on surface

February 14, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Two sunken fishing boats owned by the imprisoned “Codfather” have now been pulled back up to the surface in New Bedford.

Crews got the Dinah Jane afloat Monday, while the Nemesis was pulled up during the weekend.

The two scallop boats sank a week earlier as they were tied up together at Homer’s Wharf.

The salvage was made a little tricky because the boats got a little tangled up as they went down.

“It seems like it worked out pretty well, in terms of the salvage operation,” said Edward Anthes-Washburn, who is the executive director of the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission.

The Coast Guard is trying to determine why the boats sank, noting that not much fuel leaked into the water during the mishap.

Both boats are owned by Carlos Rafael, now infamously known as the “Codfather” after he was sent to prison in 2017 for falsifying fish catch records to evade quotas and smuggling cash to Portugal.

The two scallop boats that sank were working recently, but much of Rafael’s big fleet is not.

The government shut down more than a dozen of his groundfish boats as part of the punishment.

Read the full story at WJAR

 

Massachusetts: SMAST meeting brings fishing, offshore wind in same room

February 13, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Offshore wind developers spent the majority of a 3-hour meeting Monday attempting to win over the local commercial fishing industry.

For much of the meeting, the fishermen in attendance rolled their eyes, scoffed at various PowerPoint slides and even went as far as to say offshore wind is unwanted.

“Nobody wanted this,” one fisherman out of Point Judith said. “Nobody wanted the problems. We were assured there would be none. And here we are.”

Twenty members of the Fisheries Working Group on Offshore Wind Energy sat around a table at SMAST East hoping to solve various issues between the two ocean-based industries.

The meeting, which featured representatives from Deepwater Wind, Vineyard Wind, and Bay State Wind and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, was called to discuss a plan for an independent offshore wind and fisheries science advisory panel.

“It’s not too late,” said David Pierce of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. “As much as we’re working on, now, can be offered up to BOEM and to the different companies specific to the search of projects and specific search of scientific endeavors. We need the research. And we need research to help us address the questions that are being asked by the industry as well as ourselves.”

The science advisory panel would act independently to identify fishery-related scientific and technical gaps related to the future development of offshore wind projects. The panel could also identify offshore wind’s effects on the fishery within Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The panel’s members have yet to be comprised. Debate regarding who should be on the panel began Monday. Everyone agreed experts from all backgrounds should have a seat at the table.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Massachusetts: Rep. Keating Looking to ‘Speed Up’ Ending of NOAA Fishing Ban

February 12, 2018 — U.S. Representative William Keating recently met with new NOAA Regional Administrator Michael Pentony, and the congressman said he’s optimistic that the Sector IX groundfishing ban could soon come to an end.

“It was a great meeting,” Keating said. “There’s no learning curve with him in terms of what the issues are, and that’s an important thing.”

Keating met with Pentony on Tuesday night, just a few weeks after he was appointed the new regional administrator following the retirement of John Bullard.

“I requested, as soon as he was appointed, the opportunity to sit down with him,” Keating said. “He was great. He came to (Washington) D.C., sat down, and we talked for over an hour. We talked about general issues, but I also wanted to focus on what was going on in New Bedford in particular.”

The biggest issue, of course, is the groundfishing ban NOAA placed on Sector IX back in November. The ban is directly related to convicted “Codfather” Carlos Rafael, who owns 22 of the boats in Sector IX and whose illegal overfishing scheme has kept the sector from putting forth an operations plan acceptable to NOAA. Bullard said before his retirement that the ban cannot be lifted until the sector can accurately determine how much and what stocks Rafael overfished, and how the sector plans to go about making up for that number of lost fish.

Congressman Keating said his office has been in weekly contact with NOAA since the criminal proceedings against Rafael began last spring, because he said he knew then there would be repercussions that would reverberate through New Bedford and beyond.

Read the full story at WBSM

Massachusetts: Carlos Rafael’s Nemesis pulled from water in New Bedford

February 12, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Crews managed to lift the fishing vessel Nemesis out of about 20 feet of water on Friday.

The Dinah Jane remained submerged but will be pulled from the water soon. It has yet to be determined when exactly.

The two Carlos Rafael scallopers sank around 1:30 a.m. Monday at Homer’s Wharf.

On Friday, crews blew air into the sunken vessel and used a crane to stabilize it. After examination, the Nemesis will likely remain docked off Homer’s Wharf, according to the Harbor Development Commission.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Free safety training workshop for fishermen in New Bedford

February 12, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — In attempting to spread awareness for a fishermen’s safety seminar on Monday, Fishing Partnership Support Services included two case reports with its press release.

The first documented the case of the fishing vessel Katmai that sank in 2008. The other disclosed information surrounding the sinking of the fishing vessel Lydia & Maya.

Seven members of the Katmai never returned home. Fortunately, every member of the Lydia & Maya survived.

Each incident involved stability issues with the vessels.

Ed Dennehy, a retired Coast Guard captain and safety training director for Fishing Partnership Support Services, hopes Monday’s free seminar can prevent future accidents.

“Oh, absolutely (it could save lives,)” Dennehy said. “If they have stability problems, we cover some of the things that they need to address those problems especially if they’re taking on water.”

The safety training is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center at 38 Bethel St.

The program will include PowerPoint presentations and hands-on training. The first part of the day will act as the informational portion while the second half will allow the participants to implement what they learned.

“It’s important that they understand some of the physics first and then we talk to the practical, how does that practically apply to your boat?” Dennehy said.

The training will include stability principles and stability curve as well as understanding stability reports.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times