Saving Seafood

Fishing plan with Canada gives US more cod, less haddock

September 29, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — American fishermen may soon have less access to haddock and slightly more access to cod in a key fishing area, following an agreement between U.S. fishing regulators and Canada.

The U.S. shares the total allowable catch for eastern Georges Bank cod and haddock with Canada. The bank is a piece of ocean located east of New England and south of Nova Scotia.

The New England Fishery Management Council accepted a 2018 catch share plan on Wednesday.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Herald

NE Council in Rebuke to NOAA Demands Enforcement Against Rafael’s Sector IX Co-op for Overfishing

September 28, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The New England Fishery Management Council voted 13-1 to ask NOAA to immediately enforce regulations governing fish quota allocations to sectors in New England.  The move reflected growing frustration with NOAA’s lack of enforcement for Carlos Rafael’s overfishing.

Separate from the criminal trial and the issues of vessel forfeiture, Rafael’s Sector IX Co-op is in direct violation of Co-op requirements to correctly report catch, and to not exceed their quota.

Sector IX has mis-reported and exceeded its quota by nearly 783,000 lbs during a four year period.

NOAA regulations require that when Sectors have overages, they either purchase the quota required, or have that amount deducted from their future allocations.  Any overages also expose the sector to civil penalties and permit sanctions.  So far Sector IX has been allowed to continue fishing with none of these penalties months after Rafael pled guilty to 26 separate counts of falsifying fishing records.

Until now, NOAA, through administrator John Bullard, has said that any actions would await the conclusion of the criminal prosecution of Rafael.   But many have objected that the blatant violations by Sector IX, which was set up primarily for Rafael’s vessels, have not resulted in anything except business as usual for the sector, despite Rafael’s guilty plea in April of this year.

The Council’s first thought was again to avoid the issue until NOAA has addressed the permit violations and vessel seizures.  But the council reversed course when asked directly to take a position on the lack of enforcement of sector regulations.

Maine DMR commissioner Patrick Keliher made a motion to request immediate enforcement action against Sector IX. 

“If we don’t enforce these regulations, how can the public trust us to manage a public resource? “ asked Matthew McKenzie, a member of the NEFMC who seconded the motion.

The motion passed 12-2. 

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Fishermen to New England Council: Trust in data needed

September 28, 2017 — One by one, the Gloucester fishermen settled in front of the microphone for those with something to say to the New England Fishery Management Council and, one by one, they delivered their thoughts.

Some of the remarks, such as those from Tom Orrell of Yankee Fleet and Paul Vitale, captain of the Angela & Rose, were short and to the point. Orell wanted to know why the for-hire boats faced so many restrictions in the Gulf of Maine and Vitale simply wants more fish quota. Now.

Joe Orlando of the Santo Pio talked science and cod, while longtime fishermen Al Cottone and Rick Beal adopted more philosophical tones, speaking to the council on the need for a two-lane channel of trust and truth.

“There is a unique opportunity here to bridge the gap,” Cottone, captain of the Sabrina Maria and executive director of the city’s Fisheries Commission, told the council. “You need to restore faith within the industry that you’re actually seeing what we see (on the water).”

It was a rare home game for the Gloucestermen, the first time in more than a decade that the council had pitched camp in America’s oldest seaport for a full meeting.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

NMFS Puts Councils on Notice for Three Species Subject to Overfishing or are Considered Overfished

September 28, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The National Marine Fisheries Service has notified regional fishery management councils that three species are subject to overfishing, approaching an overfished condition or are overfished.

South Atlantic red grouper, Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack and Northwestern Atlantic witch flounder are on the list and regional councils must take steps to end overfishing and/or rebuild those stocks.

South Atlantic red grouper, under the South Atlantic Fishery management Council’s purview, is subject to overfishing and also overfished, according to the stock assessment finalized this year using data through 2015, NMFS said in a Federal Register notice. This assessment supports a finding of subject to overfishing because the current estimate of fishing mortality is above the maximum fishing mortality threshold (MFMT), and overfished because the spawning stock biomass estimate is less than the minimum stock size threshold (MSST).

Gulf of Mexico greater amberjack is subject to overfishing, NMFS said, based on a stock assessment update finalized in 2016. That assessment also used data through 2015. This assessment supports a finding of subject to overfishing because the current estimate of fishing mortality is above the MFMT. Furthermore, greater amberjack remains overfished because the spawning stock biomass estimate is less than the MSST.

Northwestern Atlantic witch flounder is still overfished and the overfishing status is unknown, NMFS said in the notice. The assessment peer review panel for this stock rejected the most recent benchmark assessment, finalized in 2017, using data through 2015.

“However, this stock is at historical low levels and other signs of poor stock condition support this stock remaining listed as overfished,” the NMFS notice said. “Lack of similar reliable indicators for overfishing status support changing the overfishing status of this stock to unknown.”

Witch flounder is under the New England Fishery Management Council’s jurisdiction. NMFS said the NEFMC must implement conservation and management measures to rebuild it.

Similarly, the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico fishery management councils must take action to end overfishing of red grouper and greater amberjack immediately and implement conservation and management measures to rebuild those stocks.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Skates: New England Council Approves 2018-2019 Fishery Specifications and Proportional Barndoor Skate Possession Limit for Wing Fishery

September 28, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

With one exception, the New England Fishery Management Council has approved Framework Adjustment 5 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The framework contains specifications for the 2018 and 2019 fishing years, including total allowable landings (TALs) for both the skate wing and skate bait fisheries, as well as measures to allow the landing of barndoor skates.

Once approved and implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the framework will allow the landing of barndoor skates in the wing fishery. Barndoor skate landings will be capped at 25% of the total wing possession limit allowed per season.

The Council adopted a 31,327 metric ton (mt) acceptable biological catch (ABC) for the skate complex based on advice from its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC). Under the skate plan, which covers seven species of skates, the annual catch limit (ACL) is equal to the ABC. Deductions from the ACL are made to account for: (1) management uncertainty; (2) projected dead discards; and (3) projected state landings, all to achieve the TAL for the overall federal fishery.

NAFO EXEMPTION

On September 27 during its meeting in Gloucester, MA, the Council voted to add measures into the framework to consider exempting vessels that fish exclusively within the NAFO Regulatory Area on a given trip from Skate FMP regulations that pertain to permit, mesh size, effort control, and possession limit restrictions, similar to exemptions that already exist within this area for Northeast multispecies and monkfish. NAFO is the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization.

The Skate Plan Development Team (PDT) now will develop a range of alternatives for this NAFO area exemption. The Council discussed an expedited process for selecting its preferred alternative with the goal of having Framework 5 implemented as close to May 1, 2018 as possible. This date marks the start of the new fishing year for skates.

Read the full release at the New England Fishery Management Council

New England Council Endorses 2018 U.S./Canada TACs; Receives Progress Report on Groundfish Framework 57, Monitoring Amendment

September 28, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council today accepted 2018 total allowable catches (TACs) for three groundfish stocks on Georges Bank (GB) that the U.S. shares with Canada – Eastern GB cod, Eastern GB haddock, and GB yellowtail flounder. The TACs were recommended by the U.S./Canada Transboundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) based on advice from the U.S./Canada Transboundary Resources Assessment Committee (TRAC). The U.S. has members on both the TMGC and the TRAC.

The TACs will be included in Framework Adjustment 57 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, which is still under development. The National Marine Fisheries Service must approve the TACs before they are implemented.

Proposed Fishing Year 2018 U.S./Canada TACs in Metric Tons (mt)

Eastern GB Cod

Eastern GB Haddock

GB Yellowtail Flounder

Total Shared TAC

951

40,000

300

U.S. TAC

257

15,600

213

Canada TAC

694

24,400

87

The allocation shares for 2018 are based on the following formula: historical catches weighted 10%; and resource distribution based on trawl surveys weighted 90%.

The TACs reflect the following changes from 2017 levels for U.S. quotas:

  • Eastern Georges Bank Cod: 111 mt increase
  • Eastern Georges Bank Haddock: 13,900 mt decrease
  • Eastern Georges Bank Yellowtail Flounder: 6 mt increase

Read the full release at the New England Fishery Management Council

New England fishing council frozen until NOAA, judge done with Rafael

September 27, 2017 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — There is no shortage of changes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could make to the way catch limits are regulated and enforced in the Gulf of Maine in the wake of the Carlos Rafael’s sentencing on Monday. But first it will take recommendations from the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), and the 17-member panel this week put off staking out a position.

There is not yet a consensus in the group, which will wait to see how US District Court Judge William Young handles an argument over how much of Rafael’s fishing fleet will be seized by the federal government and what, if any, civil money penalties come from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before addressing the issue, said  John Quinn, NEFMC’s chairman.

“We’ve got a regulation in place and we’ve first got to see what and how that regulation is applied,” Quinn told Undercurrent News on Tuesday, during a break in the first day of the group’s three-day regular meeting at a hotel on the water here.

Young gave Rafael a 46-month prison sentence and ordered him to pay more than $300,000 in fines and penalties in a Boston federal court for misreporting nearly 783,000 pounds of fish between 2012 and early 2016, but he said he needed more time to consider the arguments made by prosecutors and Rafael’s defense team regarding an effort to seize his assets.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Atlantic Herring: Council Discusses Amendment 8 ABC Control Rules; Passes on Picking “Preferred Alternative”

September 27, 2017 — The New England Fishery Management Council yesterday discussed the list of potential acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rules outlined in Draft Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. The document contains nine new control rule alternatives plus the standard “no action.” After considerable debate and a review of the varying impacts of each option, the Council declined to pick a “preferred alternative.” Instead, the Council intends to wait to hear the full range of public comments during future public hearings before indicating any preferences. ABC control rules define how catch or fishing mortality changes with stock size. They are used in setting annual catch limits.

Amendment 8 is divided into two major components:

  • Alternatives to establish a long-term ABC control rule that “may explicitly account for herring’s role in the ecosystem and address the biological and ecological requirements of the stock”; and
  • Alternatives to address potential localized depletion and user conflicts in the fishery.

The Council focused on the ABC control rule aspect of the amendment during this ongoing meeting in Gloucester, MA. The localized depletion/user conflict alternatives will be discussed in detail during the Council’s December 5-7 meeting in Newport, RI. The Council is expected to approve the package of Draft Amendment 8 proposals during the December meeting if all of the necessary analyses are completed. While it’s still too early to tell, the Council tentatively is planning to schedule hearings in the spring of 2018.

Read the full release at the New England Fishery Management Council 

NEFMC to Review Carlos Rafael Sentence, Tuesday, September 26

September 26, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

As many of you are aware, Carlos Rafael was sentenced today, September 25, 2017, in U.S. District Court in Boston.  The case reference is “United States of America v. Carlos Rafael No. 16-CR-10124-WGY.”  A press release describing the sentence was issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.  It is available at Rafael Sentencing.

The New England Fishery Management Council will review the sentence tomorrow morning, Tuesday, September 26, shortly after opening up its three-day meeting in Gloucester, MA at the Beauport Hotel.  Reappointed Council members will be sworn in, and the annual election of officers will be conducted before the Rafael case is discussed.

WEBINAR INFORMATION:  A webinar is available for this meeting.  Registration details can be found at webinar.  The agenda and meeting materials are at NEFMC.

THE SENTENCE:  The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated, “Carlos Rafael, 65, of Dartmouth, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release, during which time he is banned from working in the fishing industry.  The Court also ordered Rafael to pay a fine of $200,000 and restitution to the U.S. Treasury of $108,929.  Rafael may also be subject to forfeiture of a portion of his fishing fleet, but the Court held that issue for further consideration.”

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENT:  Immediately following the sentencing, New England Fishery Management Council Executive Director Tom Nies said, “Carlos Rafael is a criminal who stole from his fellow fishermen and the public by intentionally misreporting his catch.  His conduct was reprehensible and the criminal penalties he received are well-deserved.  We once again thank our government enforcement agencies for bringing him to justice.”

WHAT RAFAEL DID:  “From 2012 to January 2016, Rafael routinely lied to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) about the quantity and species of fish his boats caught in order to evade federal quotas designed to guarantee the sustainability of certain fish species,” stated the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  “During that period, Rafael misreported to NOAA approximately 782,812 pounds of fish, telling NOAA that the fish was haddock, or some other abundant species subject to high quotas, when in fact the fish was cod, sole, or other species subject to strict quotas.  After submitting false records to federal regulators, Rafael sold much of the fish to a wholesale business in New York City in exchange for duffle bags of cash.  During meetings with the undercover agents, Rafael said that in his most recent dealings with the New York buyer he received $668,000 in cash.  Rafael smuggled at least some of that cash out of the United States to his native Portugal, hiding it there to evade federal taxation on that revenue.”

GUILTY PLEA:  The U.S Attorney’s Office stated, “In March 2017, Rafael pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit offenses against the United States, 23 counts of false labeling and fish identification, two counts of falsifying federal records, one count of bulk cash smuggling, and one count of tax evasion.  He was initially arrested and charged in February 2016.  Rafael, the owner of Carlos Seafood Inc., based in New Bedford, Mass., owned 32 fishing vessels through independent corporate shells and 44 permits, which amounted to one of the largest commercial fishing businesses in the United States.”

The Threats Facing Deep-Sea Corals Off New England’s Coast

September 26, 2017 — About one hundred miles off the coast of Massachusetts, there are dramatic mountains and canyons, some larger than the Grand Canyon. Of course, they’re hidden under hundreds to thousands of feet of water. And they’re home to fragile and slow-growing deep-sea corals, and entire ecosystems that live on and around them.

Last September, President Obama declared nearly 5,000 square miles, encompassing three canyons and four seamounts, a marine national monument – the first on the Atlantic seaboard. The designation prohibited all commercial activity, including fishing and oil exploration.

Now, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended that President Trump amend the designation to lift the ban on commercial fishing. If the president takes the advice, it doesn’t mean anything goes in that area. Instead, it returns oversight and regulation of fishing to the New England Fishery Management Council and federal officials.

Read and listen to the full story at WCAI