BREAKING NEWS: Carlos Rafael Interview

Lucky, lucky me! I just had a one on one interview with Commercial Fisherman Carlos Rafael.

Carlos' fishing crew recently had the mixed fortune of wrangling an 881lb Bluefin Tuna into their nets. Although he had permits for said fish, because he did not catch it on a hook and line, he had to surrender his catch to the Feds and NOAA. Needless to say he was NOT pleased.

Carlos is originally from Portugal but lives in Massachusetts. He owns a fleet of 42 fishing vessels that he sends off for 7-8 day trips to collect northeastern ground fish such as Dabs, Cod, Grey Flounder and more. Carlos buys most of his boats from Texas and Louisiana and he fixes them into seaworthy shape.

The type of fishing that Carlos does is similar to what my father used to do and they know each other. SMALL WORLD, that of the FISH PEOPLE.

Carlos told me that the tuna was sold for approximately 9$ per lb.
 9 x 881= $7,629 dollar fish
$4,395 went to the Feds (who gave the proceeds to NOAA). $3,234 went to the fish broker.

I asked Carlos if anything positive came from this experience and he said "YES ABSOLUTELY!"
So much attention has been drawn to the issue that NOAA is going to have to reassess the rules.
During the last 10 years the rules surrounding bluefins have been altered heavily in favor of environmentalists. Carlos feels that all of the work the fishermen put in to alter the rules to preserve their own well being were changed during this time period.  He hopes that the rules will be reconsidered once again. Nevertheless Carlos now plans to sell his tuna permits.


If you want to stay in tune with rules and regulations regarding bluefins, if you want to stay abreast of Carlos' story then tune into Saving Seafood RSS. Saving Seafood is a compilation of current articles about commercial fishing composed by a man named Bob in DC who is lobbying for fisherman's rights.

Carlos Rafael and his Catch Heard 'Round the World

Less than a week ago, the story of Cape Cod commercial fisherman Carlos Rafael and his 881 pound bluefin tuna went from local headline to full-blown international controversy.  The serendipitous beast became entangled in his net while his crew was groundfishing for bottom dwellers off the coast of Cape Cod. Unfortunately for Rafael, catching bluefin in a net instead of on a line is illegal. Upon the fishing vessel's return to shore, the feds confiscated his potential money-maker. A similarly sized tuna was recently sold on the Japanese market for upwards of $300,000. In an update this morning, Monica Allen from NOAA reported that the fish, whose condition was said to have been deteriorated by contact with the net, was sold at a mere $5,000 by federal agents. Of those $5,000 Rafael received none.

Carlos Rafael and his world famous tuna.

To get an idea of how this news spread virally read this fascinating excerpt from Saving Seafood RSS:

"The news broke on Monday. By Tuesday, the story had hit the AP wire and was headlining in papers from coast to coast, from the Boston Globe to the San Francisco Chronicle. It went overseas for appearances in the UK's Daily Mirror and the Emirates 24/7 in Dubai. It bounced through the blogosphere, from the Drudge Report and the Outdoor Life Magazine blog to online news venues like Yahoo!, where it was Tuesday's top story. As of Wednesday, a Google search with the fisherman's name and the word "tuna" generates more than 150,000 results."


And that my friends is a tale of modern technology...


Everyone seems to have an opinion on this issue, but it looks like the grand majority is rooting for team Carlos. I believe that he should have been able to keep his lucky catch. I support the 100% Catch Rule: Whatever you catch in your net during a haul, you keep. This rule would prevent the wasting of fish that is "undesirable." Fish caught it a net, especially small species or baby fish, are often crushed by water pressure and other fish joining the bundle. If said fish are smaller than legal size limit, out of season, or worth less money than the others, they are thrown overboard only to die from injuries upon release. On the other hand, you have circumstances like that of Carlos Rafael where clearly the 100% Catch Rule would have worked in his favor.

The elusive bluefin: Perhaps the most controversial fish in the sea,

I am working on getting a brief interview with Carlos himself.  Stay tuned for updates!


Thanks MIKA GILMORE (Architect from Boston) for being the first to bring this article to my attention.