February 2, 2026 — One person is dead, and six others are missing after a fishing boat sank off the coast of Gloucester.
Unalaska’s pollock industry anticipates upcoming chum bycatch decision
February 2, 2026 — The Unalaska City Council took up the issue of salmon bycatch at its two January meetings, ultimately agreeing to support industry-run bycatch avoidance programs.
Salmon bycatch has been a flashpoint for years. And the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which oversees federal fisheries in Alaska, including in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, will now weigh in on whether to impose stricter limits on chum salmon bycatch at its upcoming February meeting.
That’s got Unalaska leaders worried the decision could threaten the pollock industry that underpins the island’s economy.
“This is one of the most important items in the last few years,” said Frank Kelty, the city’s fisheries consultant at the city council’s Jan. 13 meeting.
Kelty warned council members that proposed limits could have major consequences for the community, whose economy revolves around the fishery.
Kelty told council members that the pollock B season — which accounts for about 60% of the annual pollock harvest — is particularly at risk.
He pointed to one proposal that would cap incidental catch of chum salmon at 100,000. Kelty said under that scenario, the pollock B season would have shut down early in eleven of the past twelve years.
That, he said, would ripple through Unalaska’s economy — affecting processors, harvesters, city revenues and support businesses, like refrigeration companies.
Dominion Energy and Vineyard Wind Reach Milestones as Work Resumes
February 2, 2026 — Within days of resuming work at Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project and Avangrid’s Vineyard Wind 1, both projects have marked key milestones. The projects argued they were at critical stages of construction in court and received preliminary injunctions to prevent the Trump administration from enforcing a stop-work order.
Dominion Energy provided a detailed update on the status of its project, reporting it has reached 71 percent completion and, critically, the first wind turbine generation was installed in January. The company’s massive wind turbine installation vessel, Charybdis (the only U.S.-flagged WTIV vessel), also began loading in December after a lengthy commissioning process and is deployed for the installations.
The presentation outlines that the project remains on track to generate its first power this quarter. Although after the delays due to the stop-work order from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, they have rescheduled completion to early 2027.
Critically endangered right whale found dead off NC coast
February 2, 2026 — A critically endangered North Atlantic right whale that a team of responders attempted to disentangle from fishing gear nearly two months ago was found dead earlier this week off the North Carolina coast.
The 4-year-old male, identified as “Division,” died from injuries caused by being entangled.
An aerial survey team on Tuesday spotted what was left of Division’s carcass floating about 25 miles offshore of Avon, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
On Dec. 4, 2025, responders from NOAA Fisheries, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took to the sea to join forces with a Georgia-based aerial survey team from Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute in an effort to document Division’s entanglement and monitor his behavior.
Trump announces trade deal with India that drops reciprocal tariff to 18 percent
February 2, 2026 — U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new trade deal with India that will see the U.S. lower reciprocal tariffs on goods from the country from 25 percent to 18 percent and potentially remove a separate 25 percent tariff related to India’s imports of Russian oil.
In a post on his social media site Truth Social, Trump said he spoke with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 February and struck a deal which will see India purchase USD 500 billion (EUR 424 billion) in U.S. energy, technology, agriculture, coal, and other products. In return, Trump said the reciprocal tariff lodged against India – which was set at 25 percent as of 1 August – will be reduced to 18 percent.
US Senate committee advances Protecting Global Fisheries Act
February 2, 2026 — The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has advanced the Protecting Global Fisheries Act, legislation introduced last year to crack down on foreign illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Introduced by U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) and U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), the legislation would give the president the authority to impose sanctions on foreign persons or vessels that participate or enable IUU fishing.
MASSACHUSETTS: Coast Guard identifies all 7 crew members of fishing boat that sank of Gloucester coast
February 2, 2026 — The Coast Guard has officially identified all seven crew members who were aboard a fishing boat when it sank off the coast of Gloucester on Friday.
The seven crew members were:
- Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo, captain
- Paul Beal Sr., crew
- Paul Beal Jr., crew
- John Rousanidis, crew
- Freeman Short, crew
- Sean Therrien, crew
- Jada Samitt, NOAA fisheries observer and crew
As of Sunday afternoon, family and friends of nearly all of the crew members had come forward to identify them.
LOUISIANA: Louisiana shrimpers reject CCA menhaden messaging
February 2, 2026 — The Louisiana Shrimp Association issued a sharp public response this week after it said CCA Louisiana tagged the group in a Facebook post it described as an attempt to draw shrimpers into an attack on Louisiana’s menhaden fishery.
According to their site, CCA (Coastal Conservation Association) Louisiana is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Louisiana’s marine resources. Their work also includes influencing how the state’s fisheries are managed, including pushing for regulatory outcomes that often conflict with commercial fishing perspectives.
Saving Seafood reported what the shrimpers wrote in a statement, “Let us be absolutely clear about where we stand…attempting to drag us into their ongoing attack on commercial fisheries.” Showing CCA’s broader campaign against working fishermen.
In the statement, the shrimpers pointed to what they described as a long series of policy losses for commercial fishermen in Louisiana, including the loss of gill net fisheries, restrictions on mullet fishing, and the designation of redfish and speckled trout as game fish- moves they said have steadily narrowed access to traditional fisheries.
MASSACHUSETTS: ‘Help us understand this loss’: As the victims of the Lily Jean begin to be identified, Gloucester grieves together
February 2, 2026 — Every pew and standing space at Saint Ann Church in this coastal city was filled Sunday with parishioners and members of the tight-knit fishing community. They came, church leaders said, to honor “the families and all of those who have died at sea,” after the Lily Jean, a 72-foot fishing vessel with seven people on board, sank offshore early Friday morning.
“In the Lord of sea and sky . . . help us understand this loss,” said the Rev. James Achadinha, his words echoing through the crowded sanctuary.
In a city long shaped by the sea, about 1,000 people gathered to mourn the seven people presumed dead. Two victims have been identified: Sean Therrien, 44, a Lynn native who had recently taken a winter job on the Lily Jean after being laid off from construction work, and Jada Samitt, a 22-year-old federal fisheries observer from Virginia. The Coast Guard and church leaders did not confirm the names of the other victims.
The vessel’s emergency beacon activated at 6:50 a.m. Friday, and a Coast Guard helicopter found debris within 40 minutes about 25 miles out, Captain Jamie Frederick said at a Saturday news conference. The search was called off the following day, renewing a familiar grief in a community where thousands have been lost to the water over four centuries.
MASSACHUSETTS: Tarr Statement on the Sinking of the Gloucester F/V Lily Jean
February 2, 2026 — Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) released the following statement today regarding the sinking of the Gloucester F/V Lily Jean:
“Every day, men and women leave ports like Gloucester to harvest the bounty of the ocean for the people of our state and our nation, carrying with them the very real risk of not returning home. The sinking of the F/V Lily Jean makes the consequences of that risk painfully real.
Tonight, we are deeply appreciative of the ongoing and courageous efforts of the United States Coast Guard, whose personnel continue to search through the night, in dangerous conditions, for the crew of the F/V Lily Jean. Thank you also to the Gloucester Police Department, Gloucester’s Harbor Masters, elected officials and all of the those who are supporting the community during this difficult time. We are praying for those aboard the vessel and their families who are enduring the anguish of not knowing the fate of their loved ones.
Most of all, we stand together with those families, sustained by the enduring strength, unity, compassion, and faith that have long defined the Gloucester community since its earliest days.”
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