Coast Guard searching for Gloucester fishing crew after distress call leads to body, debris found
BOSTON (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard on Friday found debris and a body after launching a search for a commercial fishing vessel off Massachusetts that was featured in a History Channel show detailing the dangerous conditions the crew endured.
The search began after the Coast Guard said it received an emergency alert from the 72-foot fishing vessel Lily Jean early Friday located about 25 miles offshore near Gloucester. It is unclear how many people were on the vessel, a ground fishboat that fished for cod, haddock and pollock.
Gloucester is often described as America’s oldest working seaport, with a fishing industry that goes back more than 400 years.
The city, where the reality television show “Wicked Tuna,” about Atlantic bluefin tuna fishermen was based, has been the site of maritime tragedy over the years. Among them was the FV Andrea Gail, which went missing at sea in 1991. The loss of the Andrea Gail was the basis of the 1997 book and 2000 movie “The Perfect Storm.” In another tragedy, four fishermen died when the Emmy Rose sank in 2020 off Provincetown, Massachusetts. on its way to Gloucester.
The Lily Jean, its captain, Gus Sanfilippo and his crew were featured in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show “Nor’Easter Men.” Sanfilippo is described as a fifth-generation commercial fisherman, fishing out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, in the Georges Bank. The crew is shown working in dangerous weather conditions for hours on end, spending as many as 10 days at sea on one trip fishing for haddock, lobster and flounder.
Vito Giacalone, head of the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, said he knew Sanfilippo from the captain’s early days in commercial fishing and knew him as a hard worker from a fishing family. He said he and the fishing industry in Gloucester, a community where commercial fishing is a longstanding way of life, are distraught.
“He did well for himself. I was proud of him,” Giacalone said. “And now the dock we own, he ties his boat at the dock so we see him every day. He’s been to all my kids’ weddings. That’s how close we were. I feel a sense of loss. A lot of us do.”
Deep-sea fishing in New England can always be hazardous, but it can be especially dangerous in the winter because of high waves, frigid temperatures and unpredictable weather. Commercial fishing is often cited as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
“Commercial fishing is a really tough living to begin with, and it’s as safe as the elements and all of the things allow it to be,” Giacalone said. “Gus was a very seasoned experienced fisherman.”
Everett Sawyer, 55, a childhood friend of Sanfilippo, said that he is still processing the news of his disappearance. “He was hardworking. He loved fishing,” he said.
After more than five decades living and working near the Atlantic Ocean, Sawyer said he has known 25 people who were lost at sea. Cold winter conditions can complicate operations even for experienced sailors, Sawyer said.
“Things happen very quickly when you’re out on the ocean,” he said.
Steve Ouellette, an attorney who works with fishermen in Gloucester, agreed that commercial fishermen have a “tough life and unfortunately these things happen.” “Doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen it, you’re never ready for it when a boat with a crew goes down,” Ouellette said.
Steve Ouellette an attorney who works with fishermen in Gloucester
The Coast Guard said it tried unsuccessfully to contact the vessel and then launched a search that included an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, a small boat crew and the Coast Guard Cutter Thunder Bay.
They found a debris field and recovered one person from the water who was unresponsive. They also found an empty life raft.
At the time of the emergency alert, the National Weather Service said wind speeds out at sea were around 27 mph (24 knots) with waves around four feet high. It was 12 degrees (-11 Celsius) with water temperatures about 39 degrees (4 degrees Celsius.)
Gloucester Council President Tony Gross, a retired fisherman who had joined other elected officials at the harbor in the city after learning of the missing boat, called it a “huge tragedy for this community.”
“The families are just devastated at this point,” Gross said. “They are half full of hope and half full of dread, I would imagine.”
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she was “heartbroken” to hear about the boat’s sinking.
“I am praying for the crew, and my heart goes out to their loved ones and all Gloucester fishing families during this awful time,” she said in a statement. “Fishermen and fishing vessels are core to the history, economy and culture of Gloucester and Cape Ann, and this tragedy is felt all across the state.”
Gross described conditions on the water as “fishable” but that it wouldn’t take much for ice to build up on the vessel. “That is what people are thinking right now, that there was ice buildup and that made the boat unstable,” he said.