June 13, 2017 — The New England Fishery Management Council could adopt a formal recommendation to NOAA Fisheries on the ultimate redistribution of Carlos Rafael’s groundfish permits when it convenes next week in Portland, Maine.
The council, set to meet next Tuesday through Thursday, faces a busy agenda of items, including a summary of public comments on groundfish monitoring, as well as possible final actions on the coral amendment and the framework dealing with skates.
But the question of what should happen to Rafael’s stable of more than 40 groundfish permits once the New Bedford fishing magnate is sentenced — now scheduled for July 28 — may generate the most heat at the three-day meetings.
“That issue has generated a lot of interest and opinion among the fishing community and the council could develop an official comment that could be positioned in a recommendation letter to (NOAA Fisheries),” said Janice Plante, council spokeswoman.
The council is set to hear from its Groundfish Committee late next Tuesday morning, including a discussion on the interim final rule for 2017 and 2018 fishing sector operation plans and “whether measures or restrictions should be recommended for Sector 9 due to misreporting by sector vessels.”
As part of an agreement with federal prosecutors, Rafael pleaded guilty in late March to falsifying fish quotas, conspiracy and tax evasion. The man known on the docks as “The Codfather” may have to surrender up to 13 of his groundfishing vessels — which continue to fish as members of Northeast Fishing Sector 9 — and will pay almost $109,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
The commercial groundfish industry has roiled over the question of what to do with all of Rafael’s groundfish permits now that he has pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges.
Officials and fishing stakeholders in New Bedford have insisted the permits should remain there, even if divvied up to other groundfishermen. Other stakeholders — such as Maggie Raymond, executive director of the Associated Fisheries of Maine — argue that Rafael should be stripped of all of his permits.