One of the crew aboard the fishing boat out of Gloucester that sank over the weekend has been identified as 22-year-old federal fisheries observer Jada Samitt.

Samitt was on the Lily Jean, about 25 miles off the coast of Cape Ann, when the ship sunk on Friday. The Coast Guard found debris and one body in the water. They looked for survivors for 24-hours before calling off the search Saturday during difficult winter conditions, with seven to ten foot waves and 30-knot-winds.

Samitt had been on board as an observer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries.

“It is with profound sadness and shattered hearts that we share the loss of our beloved Jada,” Samitt’s family said in a statement Sunday. “She was vibrant and compassionate with an infectious smile and spirit. And, above all, she was brave and determined. She fiercely loved her friends and family. Today we are lost without her.”

Samitt was a recent University of Vermont graduate and was originally from Virginia.

“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,” her 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.”

The captain of the Lily-Jean has also been identified as Gus Sanfilippo, a multi-generational Gloucester fisherman.

State Sen. Bruce Tarr said that the victims for Friday’s tragedy would be identified by the Coast Guard.  Officials with the Coast Guard they estimated they may release names by Monday after notifying their family members.

“We remain committed to supporting the community and the families,” Tarr said during a press conference Saturday. Sadly, he observed, this is not the first time that Gloucester has had to deal with a tragedy like this.

The Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial that sits on the harbor front lists thousands of names of people lost to the sea.

By Sunday, dozens of bouquets had been laid in the snow at the feet of its fisherman, memorialized in bronze. Some one had draped his helm with a black shroud.

Matthew Freda, born and raised in Gloucester, dusted off the few inches that had covered up the most recent additions to the memorial’s plaque.

He’d known some of the crew of the Andrea Gail, a ship that went down with six crew members in 1991 and served as the basis for the book and movie “The Perfect Storm.”

Freda said he hadn’t walked along the water for a few weeks, but for some reason on Friday, the day the Lily Jean’s distress signal went out, he went to the memorial and said he started talking to Bobby Shatford, one Andrea-Gail crew member.

He said he probably told him some story from when they were in grade school together.

“Maybe I said a prayer, I don’t know,” Freda added, explaining that going to the memorial was sort of like talking at someone’s grave.

Then he’d heard the news about another ship sunk and another crew missing.

Freda himself did wharf work when he was younger, even went out on a few boats, although he stopped because he said he gets chronically sea sick.

“Nothing like fishing,” he said, talking about the rough and dangerous conditions.

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While people pulled up to the memorial in their cars with their flowers, a fishing vessel arrived into port.

Another man who’d come to pay his respects stood next to the plaques, which are organized by the year, looking at the newest entries.

“There’s still a few spots left,” he said.

Flowers are seen placed at the Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial in Gloucester, Mass., after a fishing boat from port city went missing off the coast of Massachusetts with multiple people on board, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)