The clock is ticking for “Codfather” Carlos Rafael to sell off his remaining three dozen vessels and attached permits.
As part of his settlement with NOAA Fisheries, Rafael, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to falsifying fish quotas, tax evasion, and conspiracy, has until 31 December, 2020, to sell the fleet or else a NOAA-established trust will seize control of the assets and broker a forced sale, according to a report in the Gloucester Daily Times.
Given Rafael’s past transgressions and the quickly-approaching deadline, concerns have been floated about the quality of potential buyers for the vessels. Charles Green, the acting chief of enforcement for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, assured the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) on 23 September that the agency has enacted a vetting process to keep those fears from manifesting into more trouble for the Gloucester/New Bedford, Massachusetts area.
"Part of that is reviewing the purchasers of the assets to ensure that all of the asset transfers are arms-length transactions," Green told NEFMC, the Gloucester Daily Times reported.
NEFMC member Elizabeth Etrie requested specifics from Green about the criteria NOAA would use to vet prospective purchasers, to which Green replied that the agency would review each bidder’s compliance history with respect to seriousness, type, and frequency.
"I think if we were to set the bar to say that the only person allowed to purchase one of these assets is someone who has an absolutely clean compliance history, the pool of buyers would be very small," Green said.
"The shorter answer is we'll know it when we see it," he added.
"There is no geographic preference, one way of the other,” Green said, with respect to determining the suitability of buyers, per the Gloucester Daily Times. Buyers in negotiations now "are geographically dispersed," Green said in the meeting, according to the newspaper.
Toward the end of August, NOAA settled its civil case against the “Codfather” Carlos Rafael and his fishing captains. The settlement terms mandate that Rafael permanently stop all commercial fishing except for scalloping by 31 December, and cease scalloping by 31 March, 2020. He must also sell all limited access federal fishing permits and vessels he owns or controls by 31 December, through transactions reviewed and approved by NOAA, and relinquish the seafood dealer permit issued to his company, Carlos Seafood, by 1 September. Rafael must pay a civil penalty of USD 3,010,644 (EUR 2,714,239).
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Neal Wellons
