April 8, 2026 — More than $65,000 worth of pollock roe was seized by the U.S. Coast Guard last month after it discovered federal violations on an Alaska fishing boat.
According to a news release, the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Waesche seized approximately 5.4 metric tons of the fish eggs on March 26.
Federal officials boarded the Northern Eagle, a catcher-processing ship, approximately 15 nautical miles north of Dutch Harbor.
March 31, 2026 — The call often comes in the middle of the night to the U.S. Coast Guard station at South Padre Island, Texas, rousing service members from their bunks.
A lancha, typically a slim, 20- to 30-foot boat with an outboard motor, is spotted, overflowing with red snapper, 9 miles off the coast in federal waters.
Best known for its emergency response efforts at sea, the Coast Guard also polices the take of marine species from U.S. waters. In the Gulf of Mexico, its crews board their trademark white-and-orange cutter vessels to catch lanchas suspected of illegally fishing for species such as red snapper and sharks.
“It’s a common problem and it’s been a problem that the Coast Guard has been tackling for decades,” said Lt. Phillip VanderWeit, commanding officer with the Coast Guard’s Gulf Regional Fisheries Training Center, where service members, along with state and local law enforcement, are trained to enforce fisheries regulations and conservation laws.
Lanchas can cast off quickly from the Mexican Gulf coast, with crews of up to six fishermen, known as lancheros. They often travel at night in an attempt to hide from U.S. enforcement agencies, targeting out-of-season or undersized fish with types of gear banned under American law. Their catch often exceeds legal limits, officials said. Other species are also inadvertently caught in their nets.
The lancheros aren’t simply choosing to skirt the law on their own. Officials and researchers who track their activity say they’re often forced into illegal fishing by Mexican drug cartels. Cártel del Golfo (the Gulf Cartel) is considered the primary culprit, according to the U.S. Treasury. Most of its lanchas are based out of Playa Bagdad in Tamaulipas, the Mexican state just across the border from South Padre Island.
March 25, 2026 — Legislation to keep illegal foreign seafood from entering U.S. ports and waters has passed the U.S. Senate, and now awaits similar action on a companion bill before the U.S. House.
The Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest (FISH) Act takes a strong stand against foreign illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by blacklisting offending vessels, bolstering the U.S. Coast guard’s enforcement capabilities and partnerships and advancing international and bilateral negotiations to achieve enforceable agreements and treaties.
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.
March 12, 2026 — The U.S. Coast Guard rescued three fishermen from the water approximately 23 miles south of Boothbay Harbor, Maine, on Wednesday morning after their vessel sank.
A crew from Coast Guard Station Boothbay Harbor located the 40-foot vessel Vesta Renee at 9:01 a.m. and rescued the three men from the water within one minute of arriving on scene. One crewmember reported minor hypothermia, while the other two had no reported injuries.
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.
March 9, 2026 — The search has been called off for any survivors after a commercial fishing vessel with two people aboard sank off Cape Cod, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday.
Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England received a notification just before noon Thursday that the vessel Yankee Rose was overturned about two nautical miles northeast of Race Point in Provincetown. Coast Guard crews arrived on the scene along with local agencies minutes later.
One person was recovered from the boat but on Friday, the town manager of Provincetown, Alex Morse, said that person had died. He did not provide any further information about the person. The search for the second person was suspended Friday afternoon after 21 hours.
“We express our deepest condolences for the family and loved ones,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
March 9, 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.
On 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.
On Thursday, 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.
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.
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.