Tag Archives: Maggie Raymond
Council Presents 2022 Award for Excellence to Maggie Raymond
The New England Fishery Management Council honored Maggie Raymond, former Executive Director of Associated Fisheries of Maine and a 25-year participant in the Council process, by presenting her with the 2022 Janice M. Plante Award for Excellence. Council Chair Eric Reid called the recognition “long overdue.” “Maggie represents the epitome of someone dedicated to both the commercial fishing industry and sustainable fisheries management,” said Chair Reid. ““Today we’re highlighting Maggie’s contributions to our own Council process,” said Chair Reid, “but her work for fishermen and the fishing industry was not limited to the Council. She was a key member of the New England fishing community for over 27 years and continues to make contributions even in her supposed ‘retirement.’” >click to read< 13:50
Despite sector shuffle, New Bedford fishermen will still be…
Whispers filled the convention room at the Hilton Wednesday as the dozens in attendance attempted to count the raised hands, which signified votes of the New England Fishery Management Council. The three attempts to accurately tally the votes only added to the drama of a discussion that involved a groundfishing ban that’s affected New Bedford since November. In the end, the vote didn’t provide a resolution for those fishermen out of work and the shoreside business affected by the ban. <click to read<18:27
Hitting the Trail: NOAA’s GARFO leader looks to cultivate culture of collaboration
As debuts go, Mike Pentony’s first day on the job as the regional director for NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office was a corker. The federal government marked his ascension on Jan. 22 as only the federal government can — shutting down all but the most essential government services as a consequence of the usual congressional mumbley-peg. “My first action was to come in and proceed with the orderly shutdown of government operations,” Pentony said recently during an interview in the corner office on the uppermost floor of GARFO headquarters in Gloucester’s Blackburn Industrial Park. The respite was short-lived. The shutdown lasted a day. >click to read< 23:52
Despite guilty plea, ‘Codfather’ continues to fish
New England fishermen are wondering how the fishing fleet owned by New Bedford fishing mogul Carlos Rafael continues to fish nearly five months after he pleaded guilty on March 30 in federal district court in Boston to 28 offenses, including conspiracy, false labeling of fish, bulk cash smuggling, tax evasion and falsifying federal records. Those vessels include many Rafael agreed to forfeit in his plea deal for their role in his scheme to sell fish he didn’t have enough quota to catch, under the name of species for which he had enough quota. The fishing year starts May 1 and Rafael won’t be sentenced until Sep. 25 and 26. Many are angry that Rafael’s fleet has been allowed to operate through the summer months when fishermen traditionally catch most of their fish. click here to read the story 09:51
What’s next for the ‘Codfather’?
The “Codfather” quashed any hopes for high courtroom drama when he pleaded guilty in March to falsifying fish quotas, false labeling of fish species, conspiracy and tax evasion, 28 counts in all. The real action is behind the scenes, as federal and defense attorneys wrestle over the fate of New Bedford fishing mogul Carlos Rafael’s fishing empire, said to be one of the largest groundfish fleets in the nation. It’s something Cape fishermen, and fishermen all over New England, are debating and watching closely. click here to read the story 08:36
Jockeying to control Rafael’s fishing rights ramps up
John Bullard can’t escape Carlos Rafael. People stop the Northeast Regional Administrator for NOAA in the hallway daily trying to pry any information they can about 13 Rafael fishing permits that may be surrendered as part of a plea agreement the New Bedford fishing tycoon agreed to at the end of March. “People come up to talk to me every day on this case. It’s of intense interest,” Bullard said. “I’m looking forward to a day when nobody talks to me about this case.” Sentencing for Rafael is scheduled for July 28. The date has already been delayed once, but it’s likely when the fate of the permits will be decided. The date hasn’t prevented politicians and organizations from already jockeying for position to acquire the permits up for forfeiture after Rafael pleaded guilty to 28 counts including falsifying fishing quotas, false labeling, conspiracy and tax evasion. click here to read the story 07:43
Letter: ‘Codfather’ permits should be redistributed
To the editor: Carlos Rafael’s environmental crime spree, spanning two decades, will finally come to an end (”’Codfather’ faces $109K fine, loss of 13 vessels,” April 3). Rafael pled guilty to federal charges of falsifying fish catch reports, conspiracy and tax evasion. He will serve at least four years in jail and will forfeit millions of dollars in fishing assets. For law-abiding fishermen, this day is long overdue. While other fishermen were complying with steep reductions in fishing quotas, Rafael decided those rules didn’t apply to him. click here to read the letter 09:22
What’s next for Carlos Rafael’s fishing permits?
New Bedford – Almost a week ago, City Council members asked for their names to be attached to a late file agenda pertaining to Carlos Rafael’s groundfish permits. Behind Ward 4 Councilor Dana Rebeiro, Council President Joseph Lopes and Ward 5 Councilor Kerry Winterson, the council requested “that the Committee on Internal Affairs meet with Attorney General Maura Healey and NOAA to discuss how current owners and mariners operating in New Bedford have the first right of refusal to acquire licenses to be auctioned as result of the plea agreement in the case of The United States vs. Carlos Rafael… The written motion was a bit premature. Following Thursday’s council meeting, Rebeiro acknowledged the measure was “to get ahead of the ball” in terms of where the permits may land. So what’s next? click here to read the story 19:11
New Bedford among crowd staking claim to Carlos Rafael’s permits
Before Carlos Rafael uttered the word “guilty” last month, the judge made the New Bedford fishing mogul aware of the possibility of forfeiting his assets, which means permits, too. About two months remain before Rafael’s sentencing date, but cities and states have started to acknowledge that possibility as well. “The goal for me is to get ahead of the ball to make partnerships with people that have the same interests, which is keeping the licenses local,” Ward 4 Councilor Dana Rebeiro said. John Pappalardo and Maggie Raymond, the executive director of Associated Fisheries of Maine, expect the status of Rafael’s permits to be decided on the sentencing date. Still, Raymond is already lobbying for any forfeited permit to go to Maine. click here to read the story 08:16
New England’s cod catch in nosedive
The decline of the fishery has made the U.S. reliant on foreign cod, and cod fish fillets and steaks purchased in American supermarkets and restaurants are now typically caught by Norway, Russia or Iceland in the north Atlantic. In Maine, which is home to the country’s second-largest Atlantic cod fishery, the dwindling catch has many wondering if cod fishing is a thing of the past. “It’s going to be more and more difficult for people to make this work,” said Maggie Raymond, executive director of the Associated Fisheries of Maine. State records say 2016 was historically bad for cod fishing in Maine. Fishermen brought less than 170,000 pounds of the fish to land in the state last year.,,, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an assessment of the Gulf of Maine cod stock in 2014 that said the spawning population was at its lowest point in the history of the study of the fish. Scientists have cited years of overfishing and inhospitable environmental conditions as possible reasons for the decline. continue reading the story here 09:50
Herring and haddock fishermen at odds over bycatch
Fishermen in two of the most lucrative fisheries in the Northeast — Atlantic herring and haddock —are at odds over the management of fishing in Georges Bank, a key nerve center for both species. Atlantic herring fishermen who fish from mid-water trawl boats are on track this year to exceed their limit for incidental catch of haddock in Georges Bank, off the coast of New England, federal regulators said. That would trigger rules that would effectively shut down the herring fishery. Read more here 11:39
Feds consider opening New England Closed fishing areas. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would still have to approve.
BOSTON (AP) — There are five zones off the New England coast drawn in varying angles and shapes, all rich with fish, or at least they were at one time. It’s why regulators looking to preserve valuable species closed these areas to certain kinds of fishing year-round, beginning in the 1990s. Two decades later, a fishing industry in crisis wants to get back in. http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20121215-NEWS-121219828
