January 28, 2020 — Forty-two year fishing veteran Stephen Welch recalls with frustration how he and other harvesters in New England were soundly dismissed by regional policymakers.
It was roughly 10 years ago and they were trying to ring alarm bells about new catch-share rules for groundfish, warning that the changes would lead to consolidation within the fishery and the commodification of the various species.
Now that Blue Harvest Fisheries, a large US scallop and groundfish supplier, partly backed by the New York City-based private equity firm Bregal Partners, is on the verge of completing its $19.3 million acquisition of 15 of former fishing mogul Carlos Rafael’s groundfish vessels and their related permits in the Port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, Welch believes that his worst fears are being realized.
The deal, which Undercurrent News first revealed in late August and needs only the approval of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), promises to give Blue Harvest millions of pounds of quota for Atlantic cod, haddock, plaice, redfish, hake, flounder and pollock. This on top of the quota the company already owns in relation to the five groundfish vessels and 15 scallopers it secured earlier in next door Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and Newport News, Virginia.