03/09/2026
We are heartbroken for the loss of Gene and Angel on the F/V Yankee Rose last Thursday. Our team was in contact with them while they were fishing as we were supposed to unload their scallops that evening. While this one hits particularly close to home for us, any loss at sea profoundly affects the entire industry.
We choose this industry for many reasons, but at the core is a pride in feeding our community. The men and women who harvest our seafood take real risks so the rest of us can eat well and unfortunately this season has reminded us of that too often.
This region was built on commercial fishing. By the 1980s we were overfishing and we’ve spent the past 3 decades constraining landings while learning how to set sustainable quotas. We now have the best fisheries in the world, and we should all be proud of that.
Most people don’t realize this but we are now drastically under-fishing the sustainable limits. In 2022, only 36% of the quotas set for the Mid and North Atlantic were harvested — leaving more than 750 million pounds of sustainable seafood in the ocean.
Meanwhile, our shoreside industry has crumbled, our boats are old, we lack young entrants, and our supply chains are weakened.
We can do better.
The United States should have the most modern, high-tech, safest fishing fleet in the world. We should have world-class processing facilities and strong supply chains capable of feeding our own people.
At Red’s Best our #1 core value is “Fishermen First”. While consumers may see us pop up in many different places, at our core we are a service provider to American fishermen and our job is to help maximize the profitability of their business and hopefully sustain this livelihood.
I will be the first to say it…. We are not doing enough. We can do better.
It is time to rebuild the American seafood sector. To fix this will take a combined effort from the Department of Commerce, the processing sector, the banking sector, consumers, and the fishing families who are the foundation of it all. This is not about passing blame, it’s about starting down the path of taking lots of small steps in the right direction. But it has to start right now.
To the families of Gene and Angel, on behalf of everyone at Red’s Best, we extend our deepest condolences. We have not met, but I want you to know we all have great respect for these two hardworking men. We are very sorry for your loss and we are thinking of you.
The ocean belongs to us all and it is managed with all of our tax dollars. The strength of this industry matters to everyone. It’s about food security, public health and pride. We all have a stake in this whether you realize it or not.
We can and will make things better.
Please everyone be safe.
Jared Auerbach
CEO, Red’s Best
