January 28, 2026 — GBH News today announced the upcoming premiere of Catching The Codfather, a new podcast from the Peabody Award-winning team behind The Big Dig and Scratch & Win. Catching The Codfather traces the true-crime story of New England fishing tycoon Carlos Rafael, his controversial rise, and the federal sting operation that finally brought him down exactly 10 years ago this month. The six-part limited series, the latest season of GBH News’ The Big Dig™ podcast, is hosted by Ian Coss, produced by GBH News and brought to listeners in partnership with PRX. Episodes will drop weekly starting on Feb. 11.
He was a millionaire, a community pillar, and the “Codfather” of New England’s fishing fleet. But behind the scenes, Rafael was running one of the most brazen fishing frauds in U.S. history. The story begins in 1976, when a dispute over international waters sowed the seeds of both an environmental crisis and Rafael’s eventual fishing empire in New Bedford, Mass. But as government regulations ratcheted up, Rafael made a grim prediction: fishermen would either go bankrupt or become outlaws.
“The Codfather story presents a complicated case where food, culture, the environment, and the lives of working people all collide,” said lead producer and host Ian Coss. “At a time when the very idea of ‘government regulation’ is highly polarized, my hope is that this series will make listeners question their own assumptions. Was Carlos Rafael justified in breaking the law? Has government regulation of fishing caused more harm than good? And who is ultimately responsible for the collapse of this legendary industry?”