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.
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.”
NORTH CAROLINA: North Carolina Coastal Federation seeks commercial fishers for recovery project
January 30, 2026 — The North Carolina Coastal Federation is asking more commercial fishers to enlist in its Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project to locate and collect lost crab pots.
The Federation kicked off the project in January. For 12 years, the Federation worked in cooperation with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) to remove lost crab pots from the North Carolina sounds and waterways.
“Every year, crab pots and other fishing gear are lost in our sounds in a variety of ways. Lost gear can get hung up or drift into channels, creating serious hazards for boaters, wildlife, and fishermen,” Federation representatives wrote in a press release.
Commercial fishers are hired to collect pots during the annual closure of internal coastal waters to all crab, eel, fish and shrimp pots. The closure runs Jan. 1-31 for waters north and east of the Highway 58 bridge over Bogue Sound to Emerald Isle, and March 1-15 for waters south and west of the Highway 58 bridge to Emerald Isle.
MASSACHUSETTS: State officials release updated regulations targeting fishing gear debris
January 30, 2026 — State officials have announced new regulations for the cleanup of fishing gear debris, to go into effect as of Friday, January 30, 2026.
The new regulations will serve to rewrite old laws affording gear with property rights – a relic of the days when biodegradable wooden lathe traps made up a significant portion of in-use fishing gear – and will permit local leaders, community organizations, and partner groups to cleanup derelict gear, 9% or more of which is lost each year.
The decision was informed by a report produced by the Derelict Gear Task Force, a collaboration of state, fishing industry, and conservation partners established by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries in 2022.
FLORIDA: Oysters return to Apalachicola, reviving hope for Florida harvesters
January 30, 2026 — They gather there most mornings around 7 a.m., weather-worn hands picking at plates of hashbrowns and cups of coffee scattered across two shoved-together tables. Many of their families have lived in Eastpoint, just outside Apalachicola on the Florida Panhandle, for four or five generations.
Their conversation flows from grandchildren to deer hunting with an ease conveying their decades of friendship. Then it turns to the topic captivating their community: Apalachicola Bay reopening for oyster harvesting after a five-year hiatus.
“I’ve seen more excitement out of older people this month than I’ve seen in years,” said Owen Golden, 75, his eyes crinkling behind wire-rimmed glasses.
Apalachicola Bay opened Jan. 1 for a brief season lasting through the end of February. It’s the first time the bay has opened for commercial harvesting since 2020, when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission closed the area due to declining oyster reefs.
ALASKA: NPFMC to discuss unguided halibut issue starting Feb. 5; Comment by Jan. 30
January 30, 2026 — The controversial unguided halibut angler issue will kick off the North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting on Feb. 5 in Anchorage. The action comes by request from the International Pacific Halibut Commission after its annual meeting earlier this month.
The action responds to a proposal submitted to the IPHC that aims to rein in unguided, private halibut fishing that allows individual anglers to fish anywhere, anytime and with no size limits – in sharp contrast to regulations imposed on guided sport charters. These DIY (Do it Yourself) businesses, mostly out of lodges in Southeast and South Central regions, operate by providing the vessels, rods, bait, GPS coordinates, etc. but not the personnel.
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