Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Scalloper is guest speaker at Fishing Heritage Center

January 11, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is hosting scalloper Chris Wright Jan. 11 for a talk on the way of life as a scallop fisherman in the 21st century.

Wright is part of four generations of fishermen, with his father, grandfather, two brothers and two sons all making a living from the sea.

The talk, starting at 7 p.m., is part of the “A Day in the Life” speaker series at the heritage center.

Wright dates his fishing career back to the age of 12, when he missed a week’s worth of Little League to work on his first fishing trip.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center hosting Scanning Day

January 6, 2017 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

New Bedford, Mass. – The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will host Scanning Day on January 14, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to noon. Scanning Day is an opportunity for the public to share and preserve a digital image of their fishing industry photographs, documents and other records for future generations.

The Center invites the public to bring their fishing industry related photographs, both historic and contemporary, as well as documents such as settlement sheets, union books, or news clippings to be scanned. Staff will scan the materials and record any information the owner shares about each piece.  The owner will leave with their originals along with a digital copy  of the scans on a flash drive. The Center is working to create a digital archive of these materials which will be made available to researchers and the public. These documents will help us to tell the story of the fishing industry.  Scanning Day will take place the second Saturday of each month from 10:00 a.m. to noon. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information please contact the Fishing Heritage Center at: info@fishingheritagecenter.org or call (508) 993-8894.

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Speaker Series Continues A Day in the Life of Scallop Captain Chris Wright

January 5, 2016 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

New Bedford, MA – The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center’s A Day in the Life speaker series continues on Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. with Captain Chris Wright.

Chris Wright was born in New Bedford and raised in Fairhaven. His family has been connected to the fishing industry for 4 generations. Both his father and grandfather worked in the industry.  Now he, his two brothers, and his two sons are all fishermen.  Chris made his first fishing trip at the age of 12 during summer vacation.  He had to tell his Little League coach he was going to have to miss all the games that week!

Chris is a graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. After graduation, he started as an engineer then worked his way up to mate and eventually to captain. He has been a captain for over 25 years and is currently Captain of two scallop vessels –  F/V Huntress and F/V Harvester.

Chris will discuss the fishery, the gear, and his daily life at sea, providing a firsthand account of the work and life of a scallop captain.

Admission to A Day in the Life is free to members and volunteers; $5 for non-members.  The Center is handicap accessible through the parking lot entrance. Free off-street parking available  The Center is located at 38 Bethel Street in New Bedford’s historic downtown.

MASSACHUSETTS: Port Of New Bedford’s Economic Value Totals $9.8 Billion

December 27, 2016 — A new study finds the Port of New Bedford generates nearly ten billion dollars in total economic value. That’s the finding of consultants Martin Associates and Apex Companies who were hired by the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission.

Port Director Edward Washburn says the $9.8 billion total reflects businesses that support the fishing and cargo industries, including warehouses, boatyards, ice houses, marinas and other maritime services.

Washburn tells WBSM News, the 40-or so fish processing houses reflect a big part of that economic value. “A lot of folks on our waterfront are sourcing product from around the globe. It’s coming to New Bedford and being processed and then its being set back out around the world,” said Washburn. “The value of that and the number of jobs associated with that is actually, incredible.”

The report says activity in the Port in New Bedford and Fairhaven Harbor in 2015 generated 36,000 direct or indirect jobs.

Washburn says he hopes the report will help generate more investment in the port, and enable some much needed improvements to get done. “Developing the North Terminal, north of where our existing bulkhead ends, really extending that and seeing what else you can bring in terms of fish processing and harvesting, but also the offshore wind industry.”

Read the full story at WBSM

New Bedford fishing boat finds body near Provincetown

December 16th, 2016 — New Bedford fishermen found a human body as they pulled in their nets early Thursday off Provincetown.

The gender of the body found in the fishing gear was not confirmed, and the state medical examiner has accepted jurisdiction of the case, Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney Tara Miltimore said.

“The matter remains under investigation,” she said.

Fishermen on the Hera reported at 4:35 a.m. that they had pulled up what they believed was a human body in their nets, state police said Thursday morning. At that time, state police could not confirm if it was a body, state police spokesman David Procopio said.

The Hera went to Provincetown Harbor and a state police detective from the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s office went to the town pier to meet the boat, Procopio said.

There is nothing that has been released publicly to indicate the body is connected to three New Bedford fishermen who disappeared after they left Sandwich marina on Nov. 8 for a fishing trip aboard a 23-foot Wellcraft, Dad Sea Cave, but people posting to social media speculated it could be one of the men.

“Family members are still searching for answers about the three missing fishermen, please be respectful because we do read this,” Jessica Coelho wrote in a Facebook post.

Read the full story at The New Bedford Standard-Times 

Court splits cases for fishing mogul, deputy

December 14th, 2016 — Federal authorities prosecuting New Bedford fishing magnate Carlos Rafael released a small trove of documents this week that made at least one thing pretty obvious: It didn’t take long for accused co-conspirator Antonio Freitas to drop Rafael into the bag once the law showed up.

The documents were attached to the government’s response to separate-but-similar motions by Rafael and Freitas to be tried individually.

They included partial transcripts from recorded conversations between Rafael and the undercover agents in which Rafael appears to talk about his family joining him in the alleged cash smuggling.

U.S. District Court Judge William Young on Monday granted the motions to sever the trials of the two defendants, with Rafael scheduled to go first on Feb. 6 in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Freitas, a Bristol County sheriff’s deputy, is set to be tried following the completion of Rafael’s trial.

Prosecutors have charged Rafael with one count of conspiracy and 25 counts of making false statements to fishing regulators about the species of groundfish he landed in New Bedford and fish he was selling off the books.

They’ve also charged Rafael and Freitas with one count each of bulk cash smuggling.

“The cash smuggling is where the co-defendant, Antonio Freitas, comes in,” the government wrote in its response to the motions.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times 

Partial transcript of Rafael’s meeting with undercover IRS agents revealed

December 12, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Documents filed in U.S. District Court in Boston Thursday show seafood mogul Carlos Rafael implicating his whole family in his alleged scheme to smuggle cash to the Azores and turn large catches of protected fish into large amounts of cash by selling them under the table.

Rafael is also quoted as boasting that he pressured Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson, into giving Deputy Sheriff Antonio Freitas a raise and promotion, and in turn using Freitas to get large amounts of cash around immigration and customs at Logan Airport.

The document is an official response to requests by Rafael and Freitas to be tried separately to preserve their individual rights.

The items are contained in a partial transcript of a meeting Rafael had with two men he thought were Russian businessmen but who were actually IRS agents operating under cover to learn how Rafael did business.

Rafael explained that as many as eight people in his family would make the trip to the Azores carrying cash that Freitas could bypass from customs.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

NEW BEDFORD STANDARD-TIMES: The long view on offshore wind

December 12, 2016 — A consortium of entities with fishing interests – including the City of New Bedford – aims to block Thursday’s auction for wind rights in the ocean off of Long Island, claiming the fishing industry hasn’t had a full seat at the table.

One can readily see the value in the Edison’s saying above by comparing how the steadily advancing offshore wind industry has been greeted by fishing interests in New York and Massachusetts. While the federal government has been less than perfect in its consideration of Northeast fishing resources – see the recent ocean monument designations as an example where fishing interests’ reasonable options were ignored to the detriment of future harvests – the auctions that produced three leases for wind farms off the Massachusetts coast demonstrated effective outreach from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to fishermen. As a result, Massachusetts sits prepared, ready to answer when opportunity knocks, and New York is on tenterhooks.

This example illustrates the strategic commitment made in the Bay State and that has been broadly demonstrated regarding offshore wind. From academics and job training, to infrastructure and research, the coordination being described by varied activities should be cause for patient, measured optimism here.

Business and political leaders here have recognized that there are numerous assets waiting to be plugged in to the massive system required to support a mature and significant offshore wind industry. They have so far been patient enough to develop synergies organically.

Workforce development has begun with wind-specific programs in Bristol Community College and UMass Dartmouth, and at UMass Amherst, where wind energy research and development were born in 1971. The industry will benefit from the theoretical in Amherst to the most practical at UMass Dartmouth, where graduate programs in environmental policy and law help the legal framework to evolve, and where the rapidly expanding School of Marine Science and Technology provides unique, invaluable expertise on the geology and biology where turbines will be installed, in its backyard, so to speak.

Similarly, improvements to railways into New Bedford and assessments of waterfront land use will pay off as state assets like New Bedford’s South Terminal and the Charlestown blade testing facility become more and more useful.

Read the full editorial at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Court Accepts New Bedford Mayor’s Declaration in Support of Lawsuit Against BOEM

December 9, 2016 — WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – This morning, the court accepted a declaration by New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell in support of a lawsuit filed yesterday by a group of 12 commercial fishing organizations, businesses and municipalties including the Fisheries Survival Fund and the City of New Bedford. The lawsuit alleges the federal government’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), failed to adequately consider the voices of commercial fishermen in the consideration of a proposed offshore wind farm off the coast of New York.

“During my administration, the City also has become a national leader in the development of the offshore wind industry,” said Mayor Mitchell. “Among other initiatives, my administration established the New Bedford Wind Energy Center, the only local economic development agency of its kind in the US, and has facilitated investment in port infrastructure and workforce training programs to support the industry.”

When BOEM previously designated wind lease areas off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, New Bedford worked hand-in-hand with BOEM to ensure fishing voices were considered. Consequently, the wind lease areas were drawn in such a way that they had minimal impact on the commercial fishing industry. In the case of the proposed New York wind farm, however, BOEM, according to the Mayor, has failed to take the same steps to ensure commercial fishing voices are heard.

“The City of New Bedford is joining this lawsuit because in its assessment of the New York Bight for offshore wind development, BOEM has not properly considered the legitimate concerns of the fishing industry,” said Mayor Mitchell. “I believe the opening of the New York Bight for offshore wind leasing, as currently proposed, will cause direct harm to existing fishing interests in New Bedford and elsewhere.”

Read Mayor Mitchell’s full declaration here

Fishing interests, New Bedford sue feds over New York wind turbines

December 9, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD – The New Bedford-dominated northeastern scallop industry, aided by fishing interests in four states, is suing the federal government to try to block a 127 square-mile wind turbine development in what they say are crucial fishing grounds south of Long Island.

The complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeks an injunction to stop a Dec. 15 auction in which the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is selling a lease on the location. The scallop industry group Fisheries Survival Fund is leading a dozen plaintiffs, including the City of New Bedford, the Town of Narragansett, R.I., the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, and other entities in Rhode Island and New Jersey.

“The people that make their living on the water were the last ones considered, not the first,” said David Frulla, attorney for the plaintiffs.

Important for scalloping, the area is also one of five main locations to fish for squid in the northeast, he said.

The plaintiffs allege that the bureau has not done enough to seek alternate locations to the one sought by an unsolicited proposal from three New York energy companies: New York Power Authority, Long Island Power Authority, and Consolidated Edison. The companies want to put 194 turbines on about 81,000 acres, according to the complaint.

The complaint says that rather than seek alternatives now, the bureau has deferred analyzing the appropriateness of the site until years from now, after the developers have already invested a substantial amount money.

“In effect, (the bureau) has permitted private companies to lay claim to valuable ocean areas without an adequate public process,” the complaint says.

Bureau spokeswoman Tracey Moriarty said when the agency received the proposal, it embarked on a competitive lease process that included public comment, and it deleted 1,780 acres known as Cholera Bank after the National Marine Fisheries Service identified it as a sensitive area.

Read the full story from the New Bedford Standard-Times