Saving Seafood

New Bedford Fishing Boat Captain Sentenced

November 29, 2018 — The former captain of a New Bedford fishing boat owned by Carlos Rafael, a/k/a “The Codfather,” was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for interfering with a U.S Coast Guard (USCG) inspection of a fishing boat off the Massachusetts coast.

Thomas D. Simpson, 57, of South Portland, Maine, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to two years of probation, with the first four months to be served in home confinement with electronic monitoring, and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine. In August 2018, Simpson pleaded guilty to one count of destruction or removal of property subject to seizure and inspection.

Simpson was the captain of the fishing vessel Bulldog, a New Bedford based commercial fishing vessel and one of several fishing vessels owned by Carlos Rafael. On Sept. 25, 2017, Rafael, often referred to as “The Codfather,” was sentenced in federal court in Boston to 46 months in federal prison on a variety of charges related to the operation of his commercial fishing business.

On May 31, 2014, the Bulldog was engaged in commercial fishing off the cost of Massachusetts when the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) boarded the vessel to perform a routine inspection of the Bulldog and its fishing equipment. At the time of the boarding, the Bulldog’s net was deployed in the water and the crew was actively fishing. The USCG Boarding Officer encountered Simpson in the Bulldog’s wheelhouse and instructed Simpson to haul in the fishing net for inspection. The fishing net is controlled from the wheelhouse by an electric winch, which Simpson activated, but instead of hauling the fishing net onto the vessel, he let out more of the cable which attaches the net to the vessel. When the USCG Boarding Officer realized that Simpson was letting the net out, he instructed Simpson to stop and to haul the net in. Simpson ignored the order and continued to let out cable until the net became detached from the Bulldog and sank.

Read the full story at WBSM

 

Judge returns two vessels to Carlos Rafael’s wife

November 29, 2018 — The wife and another business partner of Carlos Rafael will retain ownership of two of the four fishing vessels seized by the federal government as part of the penalties for the array of crimes committed by the man known as “The Codfather.”

U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young, in his final order of forfeiture, said the F/V Lady Patricia and the F/V Olivia & Rafaela — and all federal fishing permits associated with each vessel — will be forfeited to the federal government as part of the final seizure agreement.

Young also ordered the forfeiture of $306,490 to the federal government in addition to the $17,500 judgment already paid by Rafael as part of his plea agreement.

Two of the other forfeited vessels — the Bulldog and Southern Crusader II — will be released to corporations that include Rafael’s wife, Conceicao Rafael, as an owner.

The 75-foot Bulldog will be released to B & D Fishing Corp. and Conceicao Rafael. The 81-foot Southern Crusader II is set to be released to R and C Fishing Corp. The corporation, according to the order, includes Conceicao Rafael and Joao Camarao as owners.

The convicted and currently incarcerated Carlos Rafael, according to the order, ceases to hold any “right, title or interest” in either the forfeited or released vessels. The order, however, retains Carlos Rafael’s ability to defend himself against any future claims from NOAA Fisheries.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

NOAA extends protective zone to try to help right whales

November 29, 2018 — The federal government is extending a protective zone off Massachusetts to try to keep a large group of endangered whales safe from collisions with boats.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s applying the voluntary vessel speed restriction zone in an area 21 nautical miles south of Nantucket. A group of 17 right whales was seen in the area on Monday.

NOAA says the speed restriction zone will be in effect until Dec. 11. Mariners are asked to avoid the area or go through it at 10 knots or less.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Gloucester Daily Times

Feds looking to increase limits for skate fishing in Northeast

November 29, 2018 — The federal government’s considering allowing northeastern U.S. fishermen to harvest more skates, which are used for food and bait.

Skates are flat fish caught on both coasts of the U.S. and commonly sold as “skate wing.” The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s looking to increase the maximum catch of skate wing in the northeastern states from 19.2 million pounds to 23.1 million pounds.

The maximum amount of skate bait that can be brought to land would also be boosted from 9.7 million pounds to 11.6 million pounds.

American fishermen caught over 40 million pounds of skate in 2016, the most recent year for which figures are available.

The biggest skate fisheries in the northeastern U.S. are based in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

More information on the revised Framework Adjustment 6 may be found at https://bit.ly/2Pa8Zw2.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

NOAA Fisheries, Gulf States Prioritize Integrating, Calibrating Recreational Red Snapper Data

November 28, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA:

The Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) partnership took another step toward delivering more timely and precise estimates of Gulf of Mexico recreational red snapper catch and effort. At a September workshop co-hosted by MRIP and the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, scientists and managers from state agencies, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, NOAA Fisheries, and independent statistical consultants sought to identify the best way to use data collected by specialized and general state-federal surveys to monitor recreational catches of Gulf red snapper, as needed to support stock assessments and fishery management.

The Red Snapper Survey Designs Workshop IV was the latest in a series, dating back to 2014, focused on finding ways to better monitor catches during short federal and state fishing seasons for one of the Gulf’s most popular fish. NOAA Fisheries and its Gulf state and regional partners have spent the past several years working closely to develop survey designs that address federal and state management needs for more timely and statistically precise catch statistics.

Since last December, NOAA Fisheries has certified designs for three surveys in the Gulf of Mexico: Louisiana’s all species, general survey, LA Creel; Mississippi’s red snapper-specific Tails n’ Scales; and Alabama’s red snapper-specific Snapper Check. Florida’s Gulf Reef Fish Survey, which supplements MRIP’s general surveys for a limited group of reef fish species, is expected to be certified later this year. Each survey uses a different methodology to gather data and produce estimates based on the unique characteristics of the state’s fishery.

“This is all part of a comprehensive, collaborative, and rigorous process to ensure sound and effective science and management of Gulf red snapper,” said Gregg Bray, GulfFIN program coordinator for the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission. “It’s so important to have the leadership and local knowledge of the states, the collaborative strength of GulfFIN, and the financial and technical resources of NOAA Fisheries. That’s the real value of the MRIP partnership.”

The MRIP state surveys are designed to improve regional monitoring of the recreational red snapper catch and effort. Estimates from these surveys can be used for federal scientific stock assessments and fishery management once there is a transition plan that describes how to integrate state and general data, and how to calibrate new and historical catch and effort estimates.

Read the full release here

From skiing to salmon runs, the national climate report predicts a Northwest in peril

November 27, 2018 — Climate change’s effects – among them, increasing wildfires, disease outbreak and drought – are taking a toll on the Northwest, and what’s to come will threaten and transform our way of life from the salmon streams to ski slopes, according to a new federal climate assessment released Friday.

The 1,000-plus-page report, produced by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is the most comprehensive evaluation to date of climate change’s effects on the nation’s economy, human health, agriculture and environment. Thirteen federal agencies contributed to the report, which was required to be published by Congress.

The federal report’s stark, direct and largely negative projections are at odds with President Donald Trump’s skeptical view of climate science. But federal officials, like National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researcher David Easterling, left little room for ambiguity about whether climate change was real and who was causing it.

Temperature data, Easterling said, provided “clear and compelling evidence that global average temperature is much higher and rising more rapidly than anything modern civilization has experienced and that this warming trend can only be explained by human activities …”

Read the full story at The Seattle Times

WHOI Scientists Studying Phytoplankton to Improve Satellite Operations in Space

November 26, 2018 — WOODS HOLE, MASS. – Researchers from Woods Hole are working to improve the quality of data collected by satellites over 500 miles above the ocean.

The goal is to determine how microscopic algae, also known as phytoplankton, absorb and scatter light, and how the colors of the phytoplankton can be better identified and measured.

For the next three years, researchers from NOAA Fisheries and colleagues at the University of Rhode Island, NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will look into the ocean to help improve the quality of data collected by satellites more than 500 miles above.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

NOAA Fisheries Seeking Nominations for Committee

November 26, 2018 — HYANNIS, MASS. – NOAA Fisheries is accepting nominations to fill vacant positions on the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC).

The committee advises the Secretary of Commerce and NOAA on developing and implementing regulations, policies and programs critical to the mission and goals of the NOAA Fisheries Service.

Committee members represent commercial, recreational, subsistence, and aquaculture fisheries interests; tribes; seafood industry; protected resources and habitat interests; environmental organizations; academic institutions; consumer groups; and other living marine resource interest groups.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

October was record low month for US wild-caught shrimp in Gulf of Mexico

November 23, 2018 — It’s no wonder US wild-caught shrimp have been a little harder to find of late.

The 10.4 million pounds of shrimp caught by US commercial harvesters in the Gulf of Mexico during the month of October was the lowest for that month since records have been maintained, going back to 2002, reports the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA), a trade association that represents the harvesters.

Based on data provided Wednesday by the fishery monitoring branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center, total landings for the month were about 30% below the prior 16-year historical average (14.8m lbs).

In particular, the low volumes were driven by a lack of reporting of any shrimp landings from the west coast of Florida, as well as only 3.6m lbs reported as landed in Louisiana – by far the lowest total for any October going back to 2002 and less than half of the prior 16-year average (7.7m lbs) for the state, according to SSA.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

NOAA research zeroes in on saving right whales

November 23, 2018 — Why is the endangered western North Atlantic right whale population growing far more slowly than those of southern right whales, a sister species also recovering from near extinction by commercial whaling?

NOAA Fisheries researchers and colleagues looked more closely at the question and have concluded that preserving the lives of adult females in the population is by far the most effective way to promote population growth and recovery.

North Atlantic right whales are frequently seen in the waters off the Cape, and most deaths are attributed to entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships, says NOAA.

Eighty-three percent of all individual North Atlantic right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once in their lives, and 59 percent have been entangled two or more times, the research found.

The energy demands from the drag associated with entanglement can reduce the likelihood that a female can successfully reproduce.

Years between births also increases for females, given the recovery period needed from the physical costs of entanglements, which can last from months to years.

Read the full story at Wicked Local Harwich