A profound sense of shock and sadness rippled throughout Cape Ann after the sudden sinking early Friday morning of the Lily Jean, the 72-foot Gloucester-based commercial fishing vessel that went down about 25 miles offshore.
On Monday, MA Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr confirmed the worst fears: all seven people on board the Lily Jean have been pronounced dead, including the vessel’s captain, Ac-cursio “Gus” Sanfilippo, a highly respected fifth-generation Gloucester fisherman, his regular crew members — including a father-and-son duo, Paul Beal Sr. and Paul Beal Jr. — and Jada Samitt, a 22-year-old fisheries observer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who had just begun her career.
The determination followed an extensive weekend search-and-rescue operation by the U.S. Coast Guard and fellow fishing vessels that covered roughly 1,000 square miles of ocean. After coordinating with families, the Coast Guard released the identities of the victims Monday and opened a formal investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board into the cause of the sinking.
Tarr stressed the dangerous nature of commercial fishing in New England and said that while the formal investigation is ongoing, the modern steel vessel was captained by a man of skill and competence. Speculation, he said, is not productive.
“Gus was professional. He was hard-working. He cared about his crew. He did everything he could to make sure his vessel was in the best shape and positioned to harvest the best catch,” Tarr said. “And on a personal level, he was the kind of person you’d see walking down the street with a big smile.” Tarr’s comments were echoed by fishing industry leaders and Gloucester city officials. Vito Giacalone, policy director for the Northeast Seafood Coalition, said the vessel was operating within normal seasonal ranges and weather conditions along with many other fishing vesssels. Commercial fishing in Gloucester, he said, is a year-round job.
The Coast Guard received a distress alert from the boat’s emergency beacon early Friday. Responders discovered a debris field, one unresponsive body in the water, and an empty life raft, but no survivors.
The event has devastated Gloucester, where it’s hard to overstate the deep, interconnected relationships in this community, most especially among commercial fishing families. In this way, the cit of Gloucester is very small.
“We’re all still grieving and we’ll be there to support (the families),” said Giacalone. “We’re going to do everything possible to let them know that we feel their pain, and we will feel their pain forever.”
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