![\"Governor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OMSWQZPCOCX5ECNOJU4ZOIP6ZQ.jpg\")
Governor Maura Healey spoke Saturday in Gloucester with US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick.Craig F. Walker\/Globe Staff<\/p>\nAmong those aboard the ship and presumed dead were a father and son, the Lily Jean\u2019s captain, and a federal fisheries observer, according to officials and people who said they knew crew members. <\/p>\n
The vessel\u2019s emergency beacon was activated at 6:50 a.m. on Friday, and within 40 minutes, a Coast Guard helicopter found debris about 25 miles offshore, Captain Jamie Frederick, commander of the agency\u2019s operations in Boston, said at a Saturday news conference. <\/p>\n
Governor Maura Healey spoke Saturday in Gloucester with US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick.Craig F. Walker\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
The Coast Guard also found the body of one crew member, who was not wearing a survival suit, and an empty life boat, Frederick said. <\/p>\n
The tragedy is the latest example of Gloucester reckoning with the lethal risks of commercial fishing, an industry that has given the city a livelihood and identity, as well as its deepest sorrows. <\/p>\n
Considered the oldest US port of its kind, Gloucester has undergone dramatic changes to its fishing operations in recent decades as groundfish supplies declined and were subjected to federal restrictions to prevent overfishing. <\/p>\n
Commercial fishing is dangerous work, with a fatality rate more than 28 times higher than the national average for occupations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>. Hazards include vessel disasters, falls overboard, and injuries involving gear and equipment on board.<\/p>\n The commercial fishing fleet dwindled and Gloucester shifted its attention to diversifying port operations to include whale watching, research organizations, and educational and regulatory groups, according to city planning records. <\/p>\n The Coast Guard is investigating what happened to the Lily Jean with assistance from the National Transportation Safety Board, he said. <\/p>\n Mark Ring, a Gloucester fisherman, said the question is always the first posed and the hardest to answer.<\/p>\n \u201cMy answer is always: You don\u2019t know what happened if you weren\u2019t there and thank God you weren\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a good bunch of guys,\u201d said Ring. \u201cNo one ran a better operation,\u201d than the captain, who was a \u201ctotal gentleman on and off the boat.\u201d<\/p>\n Authorities haven\u2019t publicly named the people aboard the vessel. The tragedy that befell the father and son on the Lily Jean continues a lineage in Gloucester of kin boarding fishing boats together and never returning. <\/p>\n \u201cFather and son lost at the same time,\u201d said Gregg Sousa, owner of the Crow\u2019s Nest, an iconic bar in Gloucester<\/a>. \u201cNot the first time. … That story\u2019s endless through the history of Gloucester.\u201d<\/p>\n The son lived above the Crow\u2019s Nest<\/a> and the father\u2019s wife previously worked at the bar, Sousa said. Fishing was a calling for the father, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cMore than what he did, it\u2019s what he was,\u201d Sousa said.<\/p>\n Frederick said the decision to stop searching for the Lily Jean was \u201cincredibly difficult and painstaking.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI believe there is no longer a reasonable expectation that anyone could have survived this long even if they were wearing a survival suit,\u201d he said. \u201cOur crew searched as long and hard as they possibly could, always with the hope of bringing your loved ones back to Gloucester.\u201d<\/p>\n Governor Maura Healey said, \u201cMassachusetts stands\u201d with Gloucester and recognizes the dangers its fishing community faces to bring local seafood to market.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a place where we revere and respect and honor our maritime history and our fishing history, it\u2019s more than lore. It\u2019s more than stories,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s people and lives and families and generations who live this way, and that\u2019s why, as a state, we\u2019ll certainly do everything we can to continue to support fishing families.\u201d <\/p>\n Sousa said fishermen struggle during the wintertime because poor weather limits how much they can fish. Sousa\u2019s brother-in-law, Robert \u201cBobby\u201d Shatford, was among the crew who died in a nor\u2019easter in 1991 aboard the Andrea Gail<\/a>. <\/p>\n The tragedy was immortalized in the book and movie \u201cThe Perfect Storm.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cNo one thinks they\u2019re gonna die,\u201d said Sousa. They think the worst case at all, if I get stuck, if we get caught out in bad weather, it\u2019s gonna really suck. That\u2019s what they think. … They don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to die. If you did, you wouldn\u2019t go, right?”<\/p>\n The fisheries division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which employed the federal observer aboard the Lily Jean, said in an email that it will not send any other observers into the field until Wednesday. <\/p>\n The community center at Our Lady of Good Voyage Church was designated as a gathering spot for residents and the families of those aboard the Lily Jean, said state Senator Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester resident. <\/p>\n The Fishing Partnership, a nonprofit that provides support services to commercial fishermen in New England and their families, is accepting donations, Healey\u2019s office said. <\/p>\n At the Gloucester Fisherman\u2019s Memorial along the harbor, some mourners placed bouquets of flowers. <\/p>\n Snow covered some of the names of lost fishermen etched into the cenotaph. A portion of Psalm 107 is inscribed on the memorial: \u201cThey that go down to the sea in ships,\u201d said Gloucester Mayor Paul Lundberg<\/a>, who took office earlier this month. <\/p>\n He spoke of the phrase, \u201clost at sea.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWhat we will do as a community is ensure that they are not lost, that they are found with us,\u201d Lundberg said. \u201cEveryone in our community knows someone who knows someone who\u2019s involved in this tragedy and involved in this industry.\u201d <\/p>\n Vito Giacalone, a Gloucester native, former ground fishermen, and chair of government affairs at Northeast Seafood Coalition, said the entire New England commercial fishing community, which he referred to as a brotherhood, was in mourning.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s heavy,\u201d he said, his voice quivering with emotion. \u201cHeavy, heavy, heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking from St. Peter\u2019s Club, a social club on Main Street in Gloucester, Giacalone said he knew the captain of the Lily Jean and considered him to be a little brother. He was, he said, a \u201cwonderful person, always a smile on his face, and a responsible captain.\u201d<\/p>\n The captain had been fishing for more than 30 years, he said. He was born and raised in Gloucester, the son of a fisherman, and has adult children, according to Giacalone. He fished commercially for ground fish.<\/p>\n During the search for the Lily Jean, the Coast Guard said it covered about 1,047 square miles over 24 hours using aircraft, cutters, and small boats. Crews conducted \u201ccoordinated search patterns\u201d based on the weather, sea state, and available evidence, the agency said. <\/p>\n \u201cThey never left the scene. They searched all day. They searched all night. They searched again in the early hours of this day,\u201d Tarr said. <\/p>\n The Lily Jean was believed to be returning to port, \u201cfull of fish,\u201d perhaps to repair an equipment problem, officials said. <\/p>\n Early Friday, ocean winds were blowing up to 30 miles per hour, with seas of about 4 feet and a temperature of about 12 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Norton. A freezing spray advisory was in place, and pockets of accumulating ice were possible on vessels, the weather service said.<\/p>\n Giacalone said it takes \u201cmultiple issues to have a catastrophic loss. It\u2019s not one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe can only imagine what happened. \u2026 Here\u2019s a poor guy trying to get home, trying to make a living for his crew,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been crying for two days,\u201d Giacalone said. \u201cIt\u2019s just awful.\u201d<\/p>\n Shannon Larson of the Globe staff contributed to this report. <\/p>\n Danny McDonald can be reached at daniel.mcdonald@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @Danny__McDonald<\/a>. Laura Crimaldi can be reached at laura.crimaldi@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her @lauracrimaldi<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Gregg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/76RAWYOKRTVWQQBDR4TBFPGMBY.jpg\")
Gregg Sousa, owner of the Crow’s Nest in Gloucester, discussed the crew of the Lily Jean, which was lost at sea. Craig F. Walker\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n![\"Governor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/QBS7UPNYS4SN7Z43S4XF7U6RG4.jpg\")
Governor Maura Healey addressed a press conference in Gloucester on Saturday. Craig F. Walker\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n![\"Rebecca](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ILD54OLKPH2A73T47MS4UIPFP4.jpg\")
Rebecca Hailey bowed her head in prayer after laying flowers at the Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial. Craig F. Walker\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n![\"Vito](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OAE4IK354CBUYCIO6AC32JY5YI.jpg\")
Vito Giacalone was flanked Saturday by Governor Maura Healey and state Senator Bruce Tarr during a press conference in Gloucester.Craig F. Walker\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GJKGIB5OYU5FM5PVDYLGZIZSPM.jpg\")
A placard honoring the crew of the Lily Jean was displayed at the Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial Saturday, overlooking Gloucester Harbor. Craig F. Walker\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n