Saving Seafood

Where does Rafael’s guilty plea leave Port of New Bedford?

April 3, 2017 — Carlos Rafael’s journey to Judge William Young’s Courtroom 18 in U.S. District Court began as an underage teenage fish cutter on the city’s docks.

Rafael personified the American Dream in climbing the economic ladder from immigrant with nothing to becoming the face of fishing in a port historically known for its harvest of the Atlantic Ocean.

On Thursday he wore the cloak of a criminal after he pleaded guilty to nearly 30 federal charges that included conspiracy, falsifying fishing quotas, false labeling and tax evasion.

It wasn’t necessarily a new look for the 65-year-old Rafael, who served six months in federal prison in 1988, but his focus after the plea agreement turned to the port that in many ways assembled the man who sat emotionless in the courtroom.

“I have a single goal,” Rafael said in a statement after his guilty plea. “To protect our employees and all of the people and businesses who rely on our companies from the consequences of my actions. I will do everything I can to make sure that the Port of New Bedford remains America’s leading fishing port.”

The Port of New Bedford generates $9.8 billion in total economic value, according to the city’s Harbor Development Commission. It represents 2 percent of Massachusetts’ gross domestic product. The stalwart of this industry could be facing more than six years of prison time after pleading guilty.

Rafael’s guilty plea puts his groundfish fishing vessels in jeopardy due to the possibility of forfeiting assets as part of the plea deal. According to the mayor’s office, Rafael owns about 80 percent of the groundfish permits in New Bedford. Groundfish accounts for about 10 percent of the port’s revenue. Even still, those close to the port say no one person can affect the reputation of the nation’s most successful port.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Fishing mogul Carlos Rafael pleads guilty to conspiracy, other charges

March 31, 2017 — The following is an excerpt from a story published yesterday by the New Bedford Standard-Times:

Carlos Rafael walked into Courtroom 18 on the fifth floor three minutes prior to his scheduled 2:30 p.m. plea hearing in front of Judge William G. Young at U.S. District Court on Thursday.

An hour and 15 minutes later he stood and faced the court clerk and uttered “Guilty,” when she informed him the U.S. Attorney has charged him with 28 counts, including falsifying fishing quotas, false labeling, conspiracy and tax evasion.

“Today I pled guilty to the charges facing me,” Rafael said in a statement released by his lawyers. “I am not proud of the things I did that brought me here, but admitting them is the right thing to do, and I am prepared to accept the consequences of my actions.”

A sentencing hearing was set for June 27 at 2 p.m., when the New Bedford fishing tycoon could face as much as 76 months in prison, although Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling recommended 46 months.

“Mr. Rafael’s scheme not only compromised delicate fish populations, but also profited on the backs of his hard-working crew,” Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb said in a statement.

“Mr. Rafael knew he was breaking the law by falsifying records, evading taxes and smuggling ill-gotten profits to Portugal. Without Mr. Rafael and his scheme, New England fishermen who work hard for honest pay can now enjoy a more level playing field.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

US fishing magnate dubbed ‘The Codfather’ set to change plea

March 30, 2017 — A leading U.S. fishing magnate known as “The Codfather” is scheduled to plead guilty to federal charges of evading fishing quotas and smuggling money to Portugal.

The U.S. attorney’s office says Carlos Rafael has a change of plea hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Rafael is the owner of one of the nation’s largest commercial fishing operations. It includes a fleet of more than 30 vessels, 44 commercial fishing permits and the Carlos Seafood business in New Bedford.

Federal authorities say Rafael falsely claimed his vessels caught haddock or pollock, when they had actually caught other species subject to stricter quotas. He then sold the fish for cash, some of which was smuggled overseas.

He was indicted on 27 counts last May and is free on $2 million bond.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Boston.com

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishing Heritage Center presenting an evening of stories and verse from Down East Maine

March 30, 2017 — The public is invited to what organizers promise is sure to be an entertaining evening with Brian Robbins and Bob Quinn.

Bob Quinn grew up lobstering and fishing with his father and uncle, learning seamanship aboard the herring pumper Beryl.

Quinn has been steeped in the lore of coastal Maine since he was a child. His Uncle Bonney wrote nautical poems with a humorous bent and it is his recitations of these poems, along with his colorful commentary, for which he is best known. Quinn eventually moved to Eagle Island and assumed the caretaking of the family homestead. He has recorded two dozen of his uncle’s poems, and spends many evenings regaling neighbors and guests at the farmhouse with Uncle Bonney’s poems and his own salty stories.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell Submits Additional Testimony on Marine Monuments to Congress

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – March 30, 2017 – On March 15, Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford, Massachusetts delivered written testimony to the House Natural Resources Committee expressing serious concerns about the impact of marine monuments on fishermen and coastal communities, as well as the process by which president’s designate monuments using the Antiquities Act.

Yesterday, Mayor Mitchell submitted additional answers to questions from Rep. Doug Lamborn, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans. In his follow-up answers, Mayor Mitchell supported fisheries management under the Council process created by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

“I would argue that the Council has both the resources and the approach necessary to achieve ecosystem protection (while balancing economic productivity) commensurate with any protections that could be pursued in conjunction with a monument designation under the Antiquities Act,” Mayor Mitchell wrote. “I have witnessed firsthand the strengths of the of the Fishery Council’s deliberative- and decision-making processes.”

Mayor Mitchell went on to cite two recent examples of the Council process effectively being used to protect important marine resources. In the Mid-Atlantic, the Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area, designated by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council in 2015, brought together a broad range of stakeholders to protect over 38,000 square miles of federal waters. The resulting protected area was applauded by conservation groups and fishermen alike.

In New England, the Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2, passed last year by the New England Fishery Management Council after more than a decade of work, used the most up-to-date science to protect essential and vulnerable New England habitats, while opening up areas no longer considered important for successfully conserving fish stocks. The development of this amendment was deliberative and collaborative, with input from federal and state regulators, environmental groups, scientists and academics, and members of the fishing industry, Mayor Mitchell wrote.

Read Mayor Mitchell’s letter here

Statement from Carlos Rafael on Today’s Court Proceedings

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — March 30, 2017 – Mr. Carlos Rafael is scheduled to appear in Federal Court today at 2:30pm where he is expected to plead guilty to certain fishing-related charges.  The following statement from Mr. Rafael was released by his attorneys at Collora LLP in Boston.

“There have been a number of stories written about this case and about me.  Some of the things that have been written are true, some are not.  Here is the truth.  Today I pled guilty to the charges facing me.  I am not proud of the things I did that brought me here, but admitting them is the right thing to do, and I am prepared to accept the consequences of my actions.

I started in this industry cutting fish when I was 16 years old, and it has been an honor to work with the people of the Port of New Bedford.  Looking back, I’m most proud of the hundreds of jobs our businesses created, and the opportunities they created for families.  Today, I have a single goal.  To protect our employees and all of the people and businesses who rely on our companies from the consequences of my actions.  I will do everything I can to make sure that the Port of New Bedford remains America’s leading fishing port.”

Contact:
Sandie Thompson
Collora LLP
(617) 531-2652

MASSACHUSETTS: Warren, Markey speak on port of New Bedford

March 27, 2017 — Behind closed doors, politicians from around the state discussed how to improve the Port of New Bedford Friday afternoon at Seatrade International.

“We want to make sure the 21st century is just as prosperous and even more so than the 20th and 19th centuries were for New Bedford,” Markey said. “We’re going to work down in Washington every day to advocate for the commercial fisherman of New Bedford.”

Senators Markey and Elizabeth Warren, along with state representatives Bill Strauss, Paul Schmid, Christopher Markey, Robert Koczera and Antonio Cabral joined Mayor Jon Mitchell, City Council President Joe Lopes and Ward 4 Council Dana Rebeiro, discussed policies affecting the port.

The meeting lasted about an hour and according to Ed Anthes-Washburn, the executive director of the Harbor Development Commission, about two-thirds of the discussion revolved around dredging.

“We heard example after example of what it will mean if we could get proper dredging for new businesses, expanded businesses, more opportunities,” Warren said. “That’s what we want to see in New Bedford. That’s what we want to see here in Massachusetts.”

The New Bedford Harbor Development Commission predicts the dredging would create  898 permanent jobs, $65.1 million in wages and $11.5 million in state and local taxes.

“We have a number of docks in the harbor that are on very shallow water,” Mitchell said. “There are businesses that want to pull boats up to those docks but can’t because of the shallow water.”

According to Washburn, who attended the meeting, lawmakers agreed that Phase V dredging would be most beneficial for the port in terms of cost and reward.

Read the full story at The New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Shell Game: Shopping stolen scallops around waterfront

March 27, 2017 — North America’s largest seafood trade event brought suppliers and buyers from around the world together in one place two weeks ago. But it was New Bedford’s waterfront that was the talk of the event, and not because of the city’s seafood.

Whispers about the theft of 8,350 pounds of U10 scallops in New Bedford were on many lips at the March 11-13 seafood expo. The scallops disappeared from a Continental Cold Storage facility in the city and were discovered missing in February.

Exactly when the scallops were stolen and how is still unknown. Valued at up to $192,050, they were packed in 25 pound boxes, filling 336 cases on four pallets, and were believed to be transported by a single truck, according to police documents. An additional 24 cases of U12 scallops were later determined to also be missing.

An investigation by New Bedford police is ongoing.

“Everybody has bits and pieces, but nobody has the whole story,” said a New Bedford seafood executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case remains an active police investigation.

Some of the facts behind the mystery appear in more than 50 pages of court documents obtained and reviewed by The Standard-Times surrounding the arrest warrants of Antonio Vieira, of 74 Morning Dove Drive in Tiverton, Rhode Island, and Michael Caton, formerly a resident of Riverside, Rhode Island, but currently living at 17923 Applegate Road in Applegate, California.

Read the full story at The New Bedford Standard-Times 

New indictment adds tax evasion to charges against Carlos Rafael

March 24, 2017 — The U.S. attorney included a new charge of tax evasion against Carlos Rafael as part of a “superseding” indictment released by its office last week.

The charge of tax evasion brought the total number of counts against the New Bedford fishing tycoon to 28. The others also include one count of conspiracy, 25 counts of lying to federal fishing regulators and one count of bulk cash smuggling.

According to the U.S. attorney, Rafael is expected to plead guilty to tax evasion as part of his plea agreement, which was announced earlier this month. The U.S. attorney Massachusetts provided no other information regarding the deal except that Rafael would plead guilty to evading fishing quotas and smuggling profits to Portugal in addition to tax evasion.

Rafael is scheduled in U.S. District Court in Boston on March 30 at 2:30 p.m.

The updated indictment states that from November 2014 to about October of 2015 Rafael failed to pay taxes in the sum of $108,929. It also included two new paragraphs regarding the general allegations toward Rafael.

The U.S. attorney alleges that Rafael deposited cash into accounts in Portugal to avoid paying taxes on the money. According to the indictment, Rafael told a bookkeeper for Carlos Seafood Inc. not to enter the cash payments into the company’s record-keeping system.

The U.S. attorney also alleges Rafael omitted $267,061 in reportable cash income in 2014.

Rafael spent six months in federal prison after being convicted of tax evasion in the 1980s.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Proposed regulations irk lobstermen

March 23, 2017 — Bay State lobstermen fear that a new proposal — meant to save lobsters in warming southern New England waters — could hurt business by barring them from harvesting in prime summer months and putting tighter restrictions on the size of their catch.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will present a plan in New Bedford tonight on ways to maintain or increase the number of lobsters in waters from southern Massachusetts to Delaware.

“Over the last 15 years we’ve seen a decline in lobster abundance, and we think that’s by and large a response to warming ocean temperatures,” said Dan McKiernan, deputy director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

“That’s the challenge that we have — it’s trying to preserve lobster but doing it in a way that the industry can survive,” he added.

Yet Massachusetts lobstermen argue that their pots are full and don’t see what the fuss is all about.

“Southern New England as a whole is not doing very well, but where we are, it’s doing pretty well,” said lobsterman Jarrett Drake, who has lobstered out of New Bedford for more than 30 years.

The plan ropes in Massachusetts waters south of Cape Cod in with states like Rhode Island and as far away as New Jersey, where lobster populations are extremely low. It considers banning lobstering from July to September — peak tourist months for restaurants — as well as new restrictions on the size of lobsters fishermen can keep, and how long their traps can stay in the water.

Read the full story at the Boston Herald