Saving Seafood

44th edition of Seafood Expo North America opens in Boston

March 16, 2026 — Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America opened 15 March in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

The latest edition of the event, produced by Diversified, opened for its 44th edition, running from 15 to 17 March. According to the organizer the three-day event covers 247,915 net square feet, hosting 1,215 exhibiting companies representing 50 countries at the Thomas M. Menino Convention and Exhibition Center. [Editor’s note: Diversified also owns and operates SeafoodSource.]

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

RHODE ISLAND: Recent fishermen’s deaths hit home in Point Judith

March 13, 2026 — This winter has been an especially difficult season for the fishermen of New England, with the death of a Stonington man and two recent boat sinkings.

On Jan. 25, late at night, Thomas Williams’ body was found in the water near the town dock in Stonington. Williams was a well known captain of the F/V Heritage and a long-time local fisherman out of Stonington and Point Judith.

Last Wednesday, New Bedford, Mass., police rescued a man from freezing water, according to 7 News Boston. The man fell between two fishing vessels, where he became trapped and unable to get out. Five officers were able to pull him safely out of the water after he was found holding onto dock lines.

A day later, the commercial fishing vessel Yankee Rose sank off Cape Cod, according to the Associated Press. The U.S. Coast Guard was able to pull one person out of the water, but the second crew member is still missing.

As a third-generation fisherman, Williams was a staple of the Rhode Island community for over 25 years. He was known as one of the best fishermen in Rhode Island, according to Fred Mattera, a retired local fisherman and president of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation.

Read the full article at The Independent

MASSACHUSETTS: Gloucester benefit concert planned to support families of Lily Jean crew

March 12, 2026 — The Gloucester, Mass., waterfront will come together this spring to honor the crew of the F/V Lily Jean and raise support for the families affected by the vessel’s loss earlier this year.

A full-day benefit concert titled “A Day of Music and Stories” is scheduled for May 17, from noon to 9 p.m. at The Cut in Gloucester. The event will feature live music, storytelling, and community remembrance centered around the city’s commercial fishing community.

Organizers say the goal is simple: bring people together and turn grief into tangible support for the families left behind. According to the event organizers, 100 percent of funds raised through ticket sales, sponsorship, a silent auction, and raffle donations will go directly to the Lily Jean Fund, administered by the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, a registered nonprofit.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Two New Bedford-area fishermen mourned as Coast Guard investigates capsizing

March 11, 2026 — In the last few days, Sherry Holcomb has gotten a few packages. Sunglasses, a pair of flashlights, and a Q-tip holder embossed with a skull. They were ordered by her late husband — a mostly retired commercial fisherman — before he died at sea last week.

She’s also gotten visitors — announced and unannounced — there to help her navigate what comes next, ask questions or offer up a lasagna.

But she hasn’t gotten many answers.

Why did the fishing vessel that Truett “Gene” Holcomb was captaining last week capsize just three miles off of Provincetown? How could that happen when the water was like “glass,” as Holcomb told Sherry in a phone call late Thursday morning — the last time they spoke?

By 11:58 a.m. that day, the U.S. Coast Guard received a report from two witnesses of a capsized vessel. It was the Yankee Rose, the boat Holcomb had recently called from. The 46-foot dragger is painted forest green, but what Coast Guard rescuers saw on scene was her rusted keel.

The federal agency dispatched rescue boats, along with a Jayhawk helicopter and fixed-wing plane.

By about 12:30 p.m., responders from the Coast Guard and Massachusetts Environmental Police recovered a man from the water, 37-year-old Angel Nieves of New Bedford. They brought him to the pier to Provincetown Fire Rescue, where they determined resuscitation was not possible, according to the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office.

By around 3:45 p.m., the vessel sank.

And by 1:27 p.m. the next day, the Coast Guard called off the search for Holcomb, who might have been in the wheelhouse when the vessel capsized. His body has not been recovered as of Tuesday.

The Coast Guard and the Massachusetts Environmental Police are investigating the accident.

“Screamin’ Gene,” as Holcomb was known by fellow fisherman, had escaped possible death last month, just days before the capsizing. He found Nieves unconscious on the Yankee Rose from apparent carbon monoxide exposure on Feb. 26 and called 911, according to Nieves’ fiancée, Danielle Jeffrey. The fumes were so strong that they sent six first responders to the hospital for evaluation.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

MASSACHUSSETTS: Vineyard Wind’s last turbine blades shipped from New Bedford

March 11, 2026 — The last shipment of turbine blades for the $4.5 billion Vineyard Wind 1 project left New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal on March 10.

Mayor Jon Mitchell said, “The deployment of the final major components of the  Vineyard Wind project represents the closing argument of the case we have been making for years: that New Bedford is well-suited to be a center of the offshore wind industry. No matter when the next projects are ready to proceed, we and our many partners have shown that the industry can successfully compete and operate projects from here while working cooperatively with the fishing industry.”

Gordon Carr, New Bedford Port Authority executive director, said, “Today’s final shipment of Vineyard Wind turbine blades from the Port of New Bedford represents an important milestone, not only for this project, but for the role our port has played in this process over the last few years. New Bedford Harbor has shown it can be a critical marshalling and logistics center for large projects while continuing to support our world-class fishing industry.”

Read the full article at the Standard-Times

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