Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: ‘He was my rock’: Widow mourns New Bedford fisherman lost off Cape Cod

March 10, 2026 — When Sherry Holcomb first heard Truett Holcomb’s Southern drawl, a single word was all it took.

“The first thing he said — ‘Hello’ — he already had my heart,” she recalled of her husband’s accent, which never faded after he left Virginia for New England.

Sherry Holcomb is now mourning her husband of nearly 10 years and hoping his body will be recovered from the fishing vessel Yankee Rose, which sank off the coast of Provincetown last week, killing Truett and Angel Nieves, 37.

Truett Eugene Holcomb, 61, was a longtime commercial fisherman. For his family, his loss has left an aching void.

“It’s going to be hard to do this without him,” Sherry Holcomb said Monday.

Truett Holcomb, who was at the helm of the Yankee Rose, spent most of his life on the water, she said. He began fishing as a teenager and eventually became a boat captain.

The job suited him, she said, describing her husband as a man who felt most at home when at sea. Fishing was not just Truett’s calling, it was his “bread and butter,” she said.

Read the full article at The Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: Cape Cod Tragedy: Community Rallies After 2 New Bedford Fishermen Killed In Boat Sinking

March 10, 2026 — Angel Luis Nieves, 37, and Truitt Holcomb Jr., 61, both of New Bedford, were aboard the scallop boat Yankee Rose about two miles off Provincetown on Thursday, March 5, when it capsized and sank, state authorities said. There were no survivors.

Nieves was an engaged father of four, according to a GoFundMe created to support his family.

“He loved the ocean; it was his passion,” the fundraiser said. “But more than that, he loved God and his family. He worked so hard every day for his family. He had such a good heart. He would have given the shirt off his back for anyone. He was the type of friend you always wanted to have in your corner.”

Read the full article at the Daily Voice

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fisherman Identified After Tragic Yankee Rose Capsizing

March 9, 2026 — A New Bedford fisherman who died in the capsizing of the fishing vessel Yankee Rose on Thursday has been identified.

According to Cape & Islands District Attorney Robert J. Galibois, he has been identified as Angel Nieves, 37.

Nieves was one of two people aboard the vessel when it capsized. The other person has not yet been recovered and the search for them was called off Friday afternoon.

Read the full article at WBSM

Enormous blue whales spotted in “unusual occurrence” off Massachusetts coast

March 6, 2026 — Blue whales, the largest animals on Earth, have been spotted not far off the coast of Massachusetts in what the New England Aquarium is calling an “unusual occurrence.”

Researchers with the aquarium spotted two blue whales just 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday during an aerial survey. The day before, they saw a blue whale at Lydonia Canyon, 170 miles away to the southeast of Nantucket.

The aquarium team has never encountered a blue whale in the southern New England survey area before. The most recent sighting of the endangered species in the area had been off the coast of Maine in 2023. A blue whale was also spotted off Cape Cod, 13 miles east of Truro, by the Center for Coastal Studies in 2020.

Read the full article at CBS News

MASSACHUSETTS: 1 recovered and 1 missing after fishing vessel overturns off Cape Cod

March 6, 2026 — A commercial fishing vessel overturned off Cape Cod on Thursday, prompting a search in which one person was recovered from the water and the other is still missing, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.

The person who was recovered was “transported to higher medical care,” Coast Guard spokesperson Keira Shantry said.

Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England received a notification just before noon that the vessel Yankee Rose was overturned about three nautical miles (3.5 miles) northeast of Race Point in Provincetown, Shantry said. Coast Guard crews arrived on the scene along with local agencies minutes later, Shantry said.

Read the full article at ABC News

New England reefs: Their world is the oyster

March 5, 2026 — Horseradish, cocktail sauce, or straight up? However you take your oyster, their near extinction may be difficult to swallow.

A little over 100 years ago, U.S. fishermen landed roughly 1.5 billion pounds of the craggy bivalve per year, compared to just 29.7 million pounds in 2022.

Oysters’ disappearance means more than just an increase in the price of your happy hour. Without them, water quality dips, sea grass beds recede, and salt marshes erode.

For these reasons and more, The Nature Conservancy is hoping to bring back critical oyster reefs in Massachusetts, beginning with restoration projects in Westport, Fairhaven, Mashpee, and Bourne. If successful, the wild oyster colonies will improve water quality in New England’s estuaries and help form the foundation for more erosion- and flood-resistant “living shorelines.”

But first, residents will have to resist eating them.

In 2025, The Nature Conservancy partnered with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Cape Cod Conservation District to develop a program to restore the region’s coastal habitat, including its historic oyster reefs.

The Nature Conservancy identified several communities on the Cape and the South Coast best primed for oyster restoration with the goal of rebuilding 10% to 20% of the shellfish’s original habitat.

Now, Nature Conservancy Coastal Project Manager Dan Goulart travels town to town hoping to convince residents that oysters are worth keeping around — and not just on the half-shell. In January, Goulart led a talk for members of the Westport River Watershed Alliance, ahead of his presentation to the Westport Select Board this spring.

In his talk, Goulart connected the healthy oyster population to historic pastimes like bay scallop fishing, which depend on a healthy eel grass system supported by oysters.

“To me, engaging in this restoration, bringing these oysters back … that is like preserving our historic heritage and who we are as New Englanders,” Goulart said.

Read the full article at the The New Bedford Light

Dutch Harbor top port for seafood landings; New Bedford #1 for value

March 5, 2026 — The reports that give annual snapshots of the US fishing industry were belatedly released by a diminished NOAA Fisheries staff last month and attracted little fan fare.

Titled “2023 Fisheries of the United States” and “2023 Fisheries Economics of the United States” —they present easy to read data and trends from across the US for both commercial and recreational fishing.  

Here are some key takeaways —  

For the 26th consecutive year, Dutch Harbor led the nation as the port with the highest volume of seafood landed (780.1 million pounds valued at $224.5 million). Landings in Dutch Harbor increased in 2023 from 613.5 million pounds from the previous year 

For the 23rd consecutive year, New Bedford, Massachusetts, was the port with the highest valued catch in the nation (76.9 million pounds valued at $363.3 million).

In all, nine Alaska ports ranked among the top 20 for volume of seafood landings and seven were on the list for value. Sea scallops have historically made up the majority of the value landed in New Bedford. 

Read the full article at Alaskafish.news

MASSACHUSETTS: Lily Jean loss sparks formal investigation as fishing community rallies

March 3, 2026 — More than a month after the 72-foot groundfish vessel Lily Jean sank 25 miles off Cape Ann, state and federal investigators are still working to determine what caused the loss of the Gloucester-based vessel and all seven people aboard.

The boat sank Jan. 30 without issuing a distress or mayday call. An EPIRB signal alerted the U.S. Coast Guard at approximately 6:50 a.m., prompting a massive air and sea search effort. Crews searched roughly 1,047 square miles in punishing winter conditions- air temperatures near 6 degrees Fahrenheit, wind chills below zero and water temperatures around 40 degrees.

Responders located one unresponsive individual from the water and located a deployed but unoccupied life raft. No additional survivors were found, and the Coast Guard suspended its search the following day.

“All reasonable search efforts for the missing crewmembers had been exhausted,” said Capt. Jamie Frederick, commander of Coast Guard Sector Boston, at the time.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MASSACHUSETTS: Two Local Banks Step Up to Manage Lily Jean Charitable Fund

March 2, 2026 — A fund has been established to support the families of seven crew members who died when the fishing vessel Lily Jean sank Jan. 30 about 22 miles off Cape Ann.

The Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund announced the creation of the Lily Jean Fund in the days following the sinking.  According to organizers, 100% of donations will be distributed in equal amounts to the seven affected families.

Local financial institutions Cape Ann Savings Bank and BankGloucester are assisting with collection and processing of contributions.

An anonymous donor has pledged to match the first $40,000 raised, dollar for dollar. Donations of any size will qualify toward the match until the threshold is reached.

Read the full article at The Cricket

MASSACHUSETTS: Search For F/V Lily Jean Led by USCG Now Includes NOAA, NTSB, MA Environmental Police

February 26, 2026 — Thelocation of the 72-foot fishing vessel Lily Jean, which sank 22 miles off Cape Ann, MA, on the morning of January 30, 2026, is being sought by specialized vessels from NOAA Woods Hole Laboratory, US Coast Guard cutters, Massachusetts Environmental Police, and others.  

The tragic sinking, with the loss of six crew and the captain, has rocked the town of Gloucester, MA and the New England fishing community. Last week, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey held a press conference to update the public on the intense search for the vessel. 

“The reality right now is we have a situation where we essentially have a grave out at sea, and that is a very, very difficult, difficult situation for all of these family members,” she said. “I know there are frustrations. There are questions with all of that, and we understand that.” 

In addition to multiple state and federal agencies working to find answers to what happened, the Massachusetts Environmental Police is using sonar technology to scan the ocean floor. Col. John Monaghan said the Environmental Police have passed some data along to other agencies for analysis and could send down an underwater vehicle if they isolate a site that seems promising.  

Lt. Cmdr. Brett Igo is the Coast Guard’s lead investigative officer in the probe. He said determining the cause of the sinking could prevent future tragedy.  

Read the full article at seafoodnews.com