Special Events

East Coast Fisherman of the Year Contest!

Sponsored by:

Thursday, 1 p.m.
Exhibit Hall Stage

This popular competition is open to all FEA attendees and exhibitors. You don't need to pre-register for the event—just show up at the appointed time and compete to win cash prizes and a new survival suit, provided by IMP Fishing Gear.

The competition includes three heats:

Net mending: small, straight tear
Blindfolded knot tying: figure eight, bowline, sheet (carrick) bend
Splicing: three-tuck eye splice

The winners of each heat receive a $100 bill and qualify for the survival suit competition—who can don a suit the fastest. The winner of the survival suit competition receives a new survival suit, plus another $100 bill.

The Fisherman of the Year Contest is organized by the editors of National Fisherman magazine, and MC’d by publisher and editor-in-chief Jerry Fraser.

Highliner Honor Roll: A Grand Tradition of Honoring Excellence

Three to Receive Industry’s Most Prestigious Honor At Fish Expo Atlantic

National Fisherman magazine established the Highliner Honor Roll in 1975. Robert J. Browning, then a West Coast-based associate editor at National Fisherman and author of the classic, “Fisheries of the North Pacific,” wanted to recognize fishermen for overarching contributions to their industry and to their communities.

“All the credit goes to Bob Browning,” says David Jackson, a former publisher of National Fisherman. “It was his idea, and he arranged the first presentations at Fish Expo with our approval and encouragement.”

From the first event, three fishermen have been honored every year with the exception of 1976. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico fishermen are recognized in even-numbered years, when Fish Expo is held on the East Coast. West Coast and North Pacific fishermen are recognized in odd-numbered years, at Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle.

Four individuals have also received Highliner Lifetime Achievement Awards: Dayton Alverson in 1977, Clement V. Tillion in 1991, Angela Sanfilippo in 1994, and Gerry Studds in 1996. In 1987, the entire complement of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Air Station Kodiak joined the club as recipients of a special award for heroic service to the fleets.

Until 1979, Highliners were chosen by the magazine’s publisher, in consultation with the moderators of the Fish Expo seminars. Since then, however, the editors have named the Highliners after seeking nominations from fishermen’s associations, past Highliners and other fishermen. Readers are also encouraged to suggest nominees.

National Fishermen presents each Highliner with a plaque, and Furuno USA has made a generous tradition of presenting each Highliner with a gift. This year's Highliners, Rodney Avila, Tilman Gray and Craig Pendleton, will receive their awards at a special dinner at Fish Expo Atlantic Wednesday night. The dinner is attended by past Highliners, family, friends, and the editors and publisher of National Fisherman.

Liferaft Safety Demonstration

Marine Institute’s Model Flume Tank to Highlight Fish Expo Atlantic

Booth #624 During Show Hours

Harvesters and fishing gear manufacturers will see how a trawl “flies” over the seabed when the Marine Institute’s Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Resources (CSAR) exhibits at Fish Expo Atlantic. CSAR will demonstrate its model flume tank. The tank, which measures 16 feet long by 5 feet wide by 7 ft high and contains 750 gallons of water, will be used at the event to highlight CSAR’s extensive experience in the design and testing of mobile fishing gear.

The model tank is a 1:8 working model of the Centre’s $20 million demonstration and testing facility located at its home base in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. That tank is the only facility of its kind in North America and the largest in the world with a water capacity of 449,225 gallons.

At Fish Expo, CSAR will show five unique model trawls, including the Eliminator haddock trawl, scallop drag, clam dredge, separator trawl and a one-legged shrimp trawl. Visitors will be able to see how each piece of fishing gear operates and behaves on a model scale in a controlled environment.

Seafood Cooking Demonstrations

Sponsored by:
Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association

Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Exhibit Hall Demo Stage

Angela Sanfilippo, president of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association (GFWA), will present four cooking demonstrations at Fish Expo Atlantic. The featured recipe is Squid Trizzano. In this unique recipe, the squid is cooked with tomato sauce, oil, onions, pine nuts and raisons. Today squid is found in most restaurant menus in a deep-fried form, but squid can be prepared many unique, flavorful, and healthful ways, as attendees at the free demonstration will learn. Squid Trizzano is just one of many traditional, old-fashioned recipes featured in the New Gloucester Fishermen's Wives’ Cookbook, Stories and Recipes.

For the last 39 years, the Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association has presented cooking demonstrations in New England, throughout the nation, and around the world to promote various types of seafood. The demonstrations have focused on underutilized seafood to help promote the sustainability of our oceans and world’s fisheries.