Saving Seafood

Documentary Tracks Territory Dispute Over Lobster Bounty

December 7, 2018 — While many communities, including the Vineyard, have seen extreme declines in lobster populations over the years, the species has rebounded further north in a disputed area on the border of the United States and Canada. Fueled by warming waters due to climate change, this newly robust lobster area is being claimed by both countries, and it’s been dubbed the gray zone.

Lobster War, a new film about the building tension in the gray zone off the coast of Maine, will screen on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center. Film director and Boston Globe reporter David Abel will appear for a question and answer session via Skype. He will be joined by Tubby Medeiros and Wes Brighton of the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust, both of whom lobster in the waters around the Vineyard.

Speaking with the Gazette by phone, Mr. Abel said he learned about the gray zone through his environmental reporting for the Boston Globe.

“I’m interested in telling stories that look at how climate change affects us and how it’s not an abstract threat, but it’s having a real impact on people’s lives,” he said.

Read the full story at The Vineyard Gazette 

Rafael Arrest Shines Light on Fishing System

December 1, 2017 — Dozens of New Bedford-based commercial fishing boats were ordered to stop fishing last week in the wake of the federal prosecution of fishing magnate Carlos Rafael, known as The Codfather, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion, cash smuggling, and falsifying records and misidentifying and mislabeling fish to avoid fishing quotas.

Members of the dwindling Vineyard fishing community who have been watching the proceedings say the tale is a sad commentary on the state of the industry and highlights flaws in its regulation.

“It’s a symptom of poor policy,” said Wes Brighton, a Vineyard fisherman and one of the only Islanders to hold a federal commercial groundfishing permit. Mr. Brighton fishes for lobster, conch, monkfish, and some cod from his boat Martha Elizabeth.

The system creates an imbalance, he said, giving independently-owned family fishing businesses little access to the fisheries and allowing larger corporations the ability to consolidate fishing permits and quota.

Mr. Rafael was arrested and charged in February 2016 after an undercover investigation. According to the government, federal agents posed as organized crime figures interested in buying his fishing business. For about four years, the Department of Justice said, Mr. Rafael lied to the government about the quantity and species of fish his boats in an effort to evade the strict federal quotas that are designed to protect the sustainability of certain fish species.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

 

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishermen’s Trust hosts third annual Meet the Fleet in Menemsha

August 10, 2017 — Crowds streamed along Menemsha’s docks last Thursday for the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust’s third annual Meet the Fleet, both a celebration of the Island’s fishing community and a fundraising event for the trust that supports it. “I think it was the best one yet,” trust director Shelly Edmundson said.

The three-hour event grossed approximately $20,000 from a silent auction, sponsorships, clothing sales, donations, rawbar sales, and tips given by the band Good Night Louise, which entertained visitors off the deck of Martha Elizabeth, a fishing boat owned by trust founder Wes Brighton.

The event included crab races, and shucking and net-mending competitions. The Coast Guard, environmental police, and numerous commercial fishing vessels — most of which the public could board — were on hand, along with the refurbished 20th century wooden draggers Roann and Little Lady. According to Ms. Edmundson, the Roann made the six-hour journey from its home at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, while the Little Lady still actively plies Vineyard waters.

Aaron Williams, who won the net-mending competition, brought his trawler Tradition to Menemsha, where it docked less than 100 feet from the Roann, his father’s former vessel—one Mr. Williams crewed on as a kid.

Read the full story at the Martha’s Vineyard Times