Capt. Gus Sanfilippo – fisherynation.com

The fishing vessel the Lily Jean sank Friday about 25 miles off the coast of Massachusetts after leaving Gloucester with seven people on board. A debris field was found along with the body of one crewmember, but the U.S. Coast Guard search was suspended with the remaining six still lost at sea.

All seven people who were on the Lily Jean were identified by the Coast Guard on Monday.

Captain of the Lily Jean

Among the fishermen was Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo, captain of the ship. Sanfilippo and his crew were featured in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show “Nor’Easter Men.”

The Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified Sanfilippo, 55, as the individual who was recovered by the Coast Guard.

Sanfilippo was a fifth-generation commercial fisherman. During the show, the crew was 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, described the fishing community as a brotherhood that was grieving and in shock.

“We loved each other,” Giacalone said about his relationship with Sanfilippo. “He treated me like a big brother and I treated him like my younger brother. To know the tragedy of this and to know the kind of character that Gus had, he’d be mortified to know that these lives were all lost.”
gus-sanfilippo.jpg Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo, captain of the sunken Lily Jean.Gloucester IDRC

Father and son on sunken vessel

Paul Beal Sr. and his son, Paul Beal Jr., were also on board the vessel when it sank.

Ricky Beal told WBZ-TV that he started fishing first, and his brother, Paul Beal Sr., began to join him. Paul Sr. later started to work on party boats and eventually the Lily Jean.

“It’s just devastating. I can’t explain it,” Rickey Beal said. “The support from the community has been unbelievable.”

Who was on board the Lily Jean?

Jada Samitt was a fisheries observer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Fishery observers are workers on board fishing boats who gather data the government uses to craft regulations.

Samitt’s family said she was from Virginia, but added that “her roots ran deep here and she loved these waters.”

“Jada was on the Lily Jean that day because of her strong belief in her work, not only as an observer, but as someone who knew her important role as a crew member,” the Samitt family said. “She proved herself to be so on every trip, and conveyed to us how critical it was to protect the seas and fisheries. We could not be more proud of and grateful to her for it.”

Sean Therrien was a crewmember as well. Among those he left behind was his fiancée Becky Carp, who he had been in a relationship with for over 20 years.

John Rousanidis and Freeman Short were also crewmembers on board the Lily Jean when the vessel went down.

Officials said there was no mayday call from the Lily Jean as it navigated the frigid Atlantic Ocean on its way home to Gloucester. The Coast Guard was notified by a beacon from the boat that alerts when it hits the water.

Paul Lundberg, Gloucester’s mayor, said the names of those on the Lily Jean would be added to a city memorial honoring thousands of fishermen who have been lost at sea.

Al Cottone is the president of the Gloucester Fisheries Commission.

“It’s not easy, but we all love it. I truly believe everyone on the Lily Jean, whatever happened they did it out of love. They left this world doing what they loved,” Cottone said.