Saving Seafood

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

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

MASSACHUSSETTS: Authorities are using deep-sea tech to try to find the sunken fishing boat off Massachusetts

February 19, 2026 — A coalition of authorities is deploying technology to try to locate the wreck of a fishing boat that sank last month off Massachusetts, killing all seven aboard. But winter weather and sea conditions have thus far slowed their efforts.

The 72-foot (22-meter) vessel Lily Jean was returning to port early Jan. 30 to repair fishing gear when it sank in frigid Atlantic waters off the historic fishing port of Gloucester. Multiple agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Massachusetts Environmental Police, are cooperating to try to find the wreck of the ship and potentially recover the bodies of the deceased, officials said Wednesday.

The Lily Jean sank in waters that were more than 300 feet deep and very inhospitable in winter. Environmental police have deployed side-scan sonar to try to gather data and detect anomalies on the ocean floor, officials said. They said they also hope to be able to send a remotely operated vehicle to the site to gather photos and video, but seas have thus far made that challenging.

Read the full article at The Associated Press

MASSACHUSETTS: Search continues for sunken fishing vessel off Gloucester coast

February 18, 2026 — State and federal agencies are still searching for details to explain what caused a commercial fishing vessel to sink off the coast of Gloucester last month, killing all seven people who were on board.

The 72-foot commercial fishing vessel, named Lily Jean, sank on Jan. 30 without sending any distress or mayday call.

Coast Guard crews spent days searching for survivors on dangerously high seas before calling off the search and rescue mission.

At a Wednesday press conference, officials stressed the need for patience as they work toward uncovering meaningful information. They said state and federal partners are collaborating on this phase of the investigation, which includes searching for the sunken ship. That effort is focused on an area about 20 minutes off shore, with waters up to 400 feet deep. Crews are hoping the search helps them understand what happened to the ship.

Read the full article at WGBH

LOUISIANA: In departure from norm, Coast Guard demands immigration papers on Louisiana docks

February 18, 2026 — Since November, the U.S. Coast Guard—the military branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — has conducted regular raids at Louisiana fishing docks and in Louisiana bayous to arrest immigrant deckhands and oyster harvesters.

Seafood workers say that the Coast Guard, in a departure from the norm, has conducted about seven sweeps since early November, resulting in multiple arrests. They have concentrated efforts 40 minutes east of New Orleans, around Hopedale, a small unincorporated fishing community in St. Bernard Parish that’s composed of a string of docks lining a single road, Hopedale Highway.

The raids at the quiet St. Bernard Parish docks, and on the surrounding waters of Biloxi Marsh, conducted largely out of public view, are surprising to local immigration attorneys, seafood industry owners, and workers — because the Coast Guard has not historically conducted immigration enforcement at inland docks.

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter told The Lens that he didn’t agree with the shift in Coast Guard priorities, and that he worried it could divert resources from the Coast Guard’s work in Louisiana that keeps river traffic moving and rescues people after disasters.

“Trump’s reckless Department of Homeland Security has placed deportations above all other priorities, making Louisianans less safe,” Carter said. “This has pulled our service members away from investigations into illicit activities and actual criminals that are endangering our communities.”

Read the full article at the Louisiana Illuminator

MASSACHUSETTS: Lily Jean crew member lost at sea was loyal, hard-working friend

February 17, 2026 — Loved ones of a 33-year-old crew member aboard The Lily Jean, a Gloucester fishing vessel that sunk at the end of January, remember him as a loving and hard-working man who would “give the shirt off his back” to anyone who needed it.

John Paul Rousanidis, 33, of Peabody, died on Jan. 30. He was one of seven people aboard the fishing boat when it went down off the coast of Cape Ann. The Coast Guard searched into the night for the missing crew members, discovering just one body, a debris field and the boat’s empty life raft.

Read the full article at Mass Live

MASSACHUSETTS: Sunken Gloucester fishing boat: How to support the families of the 7 crew members

February 3, 2026 — As the North Shore and New England fishing communities mourn the loss of the seven crew members of a Gloucester fishing boat that sank off the coast of Cape Ann on Friday, fundraisers are collecting money for the families of the crew.

The U.S. Coast Guard began searching for a 72-foot fishing vessel known as the “Lily Jean” Friday morning after receiving a signal from an emergency position-indicating beacon, the Coast Guard said previously. By Friday evening, searchers had discovered a debris field near the signal’s reported location and recovered one of the crew members’ bodies.

After searching nearly 1,050 square miles over the course of a day, the Coast Guard suspended its search Saturday morning. The Lily Jean was returning to Gloucester after a fishing trip when it sank.

It is unclear what caused the sinking of the Lily Jean, but on Monday, the Coast Guard announced it would be conducting “a district-level formal investigation” into the incident. The Coast Guard also officially identified the fishing vessel’s crew members.

The crew members have been identified as:

  • 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

Those looking to offer support to the families of all the crew members should donate to a local non-profit called Fishing Partnership Support Services, Gloucester State Sen. Bruce Tarr, a Republican, recommended Monday.

Read the full article at MassLive

Victims of sunken Gloucester fishing vessel the Lily Jean remembered at memorial service, “It’s just a hard life”

February 2, 2026 — Two days after seven crew members of the fishing boat the Lily Jean were lost at sea off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts the community came together for a memorial Mass.

It was an emotional scene Sunday at Saint Ann Church in Gloucester, and it was cathartic the way this community is coming together for one another.

“Things can change quickly. It’s just a hard life. I got out years ago so I could see my kids grow,” said retired fisherman Domenic Dimaio. He went to school with the captain of the Lily Jean.

“I just, I don’t know. I am in shock,” he added.

Al Cottone was also at the memorial. The fisherman knew the captain most of his life. Their fathers grew up together in Sicily.

Read the full article at CBS News

Tragedy off America’s oldest seaport claims 7 lives as fishing boat sinks in frigid waters

February 2, 2026 — The seven victims of a marine disaster that devastated a storied Massachusetts fishing town included a fifth-generation fisherman, a young federal fisheries observer and a father-and-son crew duo. All died when their fishing boat, the Lily Jean, sank in waters off America’s oldest seaport.

The sinking underscored the risks long inherent in Gloucester’s fishing industry, which spans more than 400 years and was famously chronicled in “The Perfect Storm.” The names of the crew will be added to a city memorial honoring thousands of fishermen lost at sea over generations.

The 72-foot (22-meter) vessel was returning to port early Friday to repair fishing gear when it sank in frigid Atlantic waters. The U.S. Coast Guard announced Monday that it was launching a formal investigation into the sinking after suspending a search for survivors Saturday. It has not said what might have caused the sinking, though it said ice buildup from freezing ocean spray can cause a boat to capsize.

“You fish in federal waters, you fish in a Gloucester boat, and you lose your life, you’re forever a Gloucester fisherman,” Gloucester fisherman Al Cottone said.

Read the full article at The Associated Press