Saving Seafood

NOAA fines Carlos Rafael $3m, requires him to cease all fishing, give up permits

August 19, 2019 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has reached a settlement with Carlos Rafael that will see the incarcerated fishing mogul pay a $3 million civil fine, relinquish the dealer permit held by his Carlos Seafood business, permanently cease all groundfish and scallop fishing, and sell all federal fishing permits and fishing vessels he owns or controls by the end of next year.

NOAA said in a press release that 17 of Rafael’s former captains will receive suspensions of their operator permits ranging from 20 to 200 days and serve probationary periods of one to three years for their own violations of federal fishing rules.

According to the settlement, Rafael’s fleet must cease all groundfish fishing by Dec. 31, 2019, and end all scallop harvesting by March 31, 2020.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Efforts with scallops and oysters paying off in NJ

August 19, 2019 — Fisheries management has provided a model for how people can adjust their impact on the natural world to benefit themselves and the environment. Scallops have made New Jersey a leader in East Coast seafood landings, with Cape May the region’s No. 2 port behind New Bedford, Connecticut. And oysters, while slowly growing into a robust and lucrative industry, now also promise to clean coastal waters and help reduce flooding.

Years of federal fisheries managers allowing Atlantic sea scallops to thrive by limiting their harvest have yielded an abundance of this shellfish delicacy.

New data shows their harvest last year reached more than 58 million pounds, the highest since 2011 and the fifth highest since record keeping began in 1945.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

Fisheries Survival Fund Supports Department of Interior Commitment to Scientific Review of Wind Farm Projects

August 16, 2019 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund:

The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) supports recent efforts by the Department of the Interior to ensure that planned offshore wind developments receive a thorough environmental review, as required by law. We appreciate that President Trump and his Administration, and specifically Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, have chosen to require that major offshore renewable energy development is based on sound science and takes the needs and interests of existing, historic coastal communities into account. Recognizing that major offshore wind development projects — especially when so many are being planned all at once— fundamentally alter the ocean environment is sound policy and the right thing to do.

FSF has consistently stated that any offshore wind development needs to properly consider how new development affects exiting ocean users. This includes scallopers and all other fishermen, who rely on key fishing grounds that will be disrupted by new wind farms, as well as other ocean users who rely on these areas for transit.

Any prospective wind farm needs to properly account for the environmental impacts it would have on marine life and marine habitats, and the economic impacts it would have on fishermen and others relying on the areas. Only then can the benefits of any project be accurately assessed against the costs, and possible damages successfully mitigated.

Recent steps by the Department of the Interior closely follow our advice. In requiring a proper environmental review of existing wind farm proposals, the Department is holding the wind power industry to the same standards the fishing industry is whenever it implements a fishery management plan. To be clear, the Department is not imposing new or unique burdens. Rather, it is assuring that existing standards are met and proper procedures are followed. We are a nation governed by laws that apply to all, including renewable energy projects.

FSF still believes that it is possible for wind power and fisheries to coexist. But this coexistence can’t happen without an honest and complete understanding of how this new industry will change our environment. We thank Secretary Bernhardt for his active engagement and thoughtful deliberation on this issue.

Carlos Rafael settles Coast Guard oil violations; feds auction boats

August 14, 2019 — Carlos Rafael, the longtime New Bedford industry figure now serving a 46-month sentence in federal prison, settled water pollution complaints for $511,000 in civil penalties, as the U.S. Marshals Service offered two of his boats at auction.

Rafael, manager Stephanie Rafael DeMello, and captain Carlos Pereira agreed to the penalty and making improvements to the Vila Nova do Corvo II. The Coast Guard charged that the vessel discharged oily bilge waste overboard at sea while harvesting scallops and that its used fuel filters were likewise dumped over the side.

Rafael pleaded guilty to falsifying landing reports, fish labeling and other records, tax evasion and cash smuggling. He was arrested in February 2016 after federal investigators, posing as Russian immigrants with sketchy organized crime connections, recorded Rafael bragging about how he routinely faked landing reports and fish tickets to evade quota limits.

In the original sentencing, Rafael had been ordered to forfeit four vessels to the government, but a final settlement allowed two of those, the Bulldog and Southern Crusader II, to be released to his wife Conceicao Rafael and other New Bedford fishermen in shared ownership.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Scallop Research Proposals

July 26, 2019 — NOAA Fisheries, in coordination with the New England Fishery Management Council, is soliciting research proposals under the Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Program.

Successful applicants are awarded pounds of scallops that have been “Set aside” to pay for research expenses.

Researchers and fishermen partner to harvest awarded scallops, and the proceeds are used to fund the research and compensate fishing industry partners.

The New England Fishery Management Council sets the research priorities and NOAA Fisheries administers the competition, oversees awarded projects, and oversees set-aside harvest activities.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

2020-2021 Scallop RSA Competition Underway; September 20 Deadline for Project Proposals

July 25, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The federal competition for 2020-2021 awards through the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program is now open. The deadline for submitting full proposals is Friday, September 20, 2019 at 5 p.m.

The New England Fishery Management Council established the Scallop RSA Program under the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The Council sets research priorities for this program, while the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries) administers the RSA competition, oversees award projects, and monitors set-aside harvest activities through the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO).

Read the full release here

Atlantic Capes Fisheries launches stuffed clams, scallops line aimed at millennials

July 23, 2019 — Atlantic Capes Fisheries is launching a line of frozen stuffed clams and scallops for retail and foodservice.

The Fall River, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based harvester, processor, and marketer of Marine Stewardship Council-certified scallops and North Atlantic seafood is launching the new value-added seafood items under the Galilean’s Kitchen brand.

First, it will roll out Galilean’s Kitchen New England Style Stuffed Clams in a nine-count package for retail and a 36-count pack for foodservice. Then, Galilean’s Kitchen will launch Stuffed Scallops and Gourmet Stuffed Clam Flights, in four flavors: Bacon & Cheddar, Thai Chili Lime, Mediterranean, and Portuguese-style.

While the Matlaw’s brand of stuffed clams has been on the market for years, “Galilean’s Kitchen products are a much higher quality than competition,” Steve Zevitas, vice president and sales manager at Atlantic Capes, told SeafoodSource. “We are targeting the millennials with the gourmet line of flavors, Stuffed Clam Flights.”

The New England Stuffed Clams are made from sweet and briny hand-shucked Atlantic surf clams, fleet-direct from Atlantic Capes’ boats, and mixed with onions, red bell peppers, garlic, and seasoning.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MASSACHUSETTS: US scallop harvester Quinn Fisheries to convert former copper mill into shipyard

July 23, 2019 — Charlie and Michael Quinn, father and son owners of Quinn Fisheries — a six-vessel  harvesting operation in the US’s scallop landing capitol of New Bedford, Massachusetts — have purchased a historical 14-acre waterfront property once dedicated to metal works and plan to convert it into a shipyard, the New Bedford port authority confirms.

Edward Anthes-Washburn, director of the Port of New Bedford, told Undercurrent Newsthat he has been working for several years to redevelop the property owned by the Revere Copper and Brass complex, on North Front Street, since it opened in 1861. The more than 400,000 square feet worth of structures on the property largely have been dormant since Revere closed the plant in 2008 and shipped much of its equipment to South Korea a year later, according to South Coast Today, the local newspaper.

New Bedford mayor Jon Mitchell told the radio station WBSM 1420 over the weekend that it was his understanding that most of the complex will be brought down to make room for vessel work, though he said he was hopeful that an icehouse, built out of granite that played a role in the city’s history whaling history, would be restored.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

America’s Got Scallops: Catch Is Up, Consumers Shelling Out

July 22, 2019 — America’s harvest of scallops is increasing to near-record levels at a time when the shellfish are in high demand and the value of the fishery has surged in recent years.

Sea scallops, harvested mostly by boats from the cold Atlantic Ocean, are the target of one of the most valuable fisheries in America. New data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the harvest topped 58.2 million pounds last year, the highest total since 2011 and the fifth-highest in history, according to federal statistics going back to 1945.

The availability of scallops for consumers hasn’t changed much as the U.S. harvest has long been supplemented by foreign sources. Prices to consumers have also held about steady.

The value of the fishery itself, though, is rising. American scallops were worth $532.9 million at the docks last year. That’s the third-highest figure on record and more than $100 million higher than the 2014 total.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WBUR

MAINE: State deals setback to opponents of aquaculture lease on Maquoit Bay

July 19, 2019 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources has rejected a citizens petition that requested a moratorium on aquaculture leases of over 10 acres.

The petition was submitted March 20, with 189 signatures, by a group called Save Maquoit Bay. The petition was drawn up in response to an application by Mere Point Oyster Co. for a 40-acre lease in the bay, off Brunswick, in order to cultivate Eastern oysters, bay scallops and sea scallops.

Although the proposed moratorium targeted one project, it would have applied statewide.

In its decision, the department wrote that it doesn’t see a basis for a moratorium.

“The Legislature has limited the size of any single lease to no more than 100 acres,” the decision reads. “Leases of greater than 10 acres may be appropriate and suitable in some areas and for certain aquaculture activities, just as leases of less than 10 acres would be required in others. The department can adequately deal with the size of a lease requested under the current lease decision criteria.

“Lease applications greater than 10 acres have been found to meet the decision criteria and have been granted, and other lease sites have been reduced in size by the department’s lease decision where the proposed sites were found to be unreasonable. Further, a 10-acre limitation on lease size may have the unintended effect of causing applicants to apply for multiple leases, as opposed to one single lease of a size that is suitable to meet their needs.

“Without further justification, a moratorium on leases of greater than 10 acres is arbitrary, and the department will not implement such a moratorium.”

Read the full story at MaineBiz