Obituary for Kenelm "Ken" W. Coons

Kenelm "Ken" W. Coons, a six-year National Press Club member, died Feb. 3 in Annapolis, Md., where he had lived for the last 14 years. He was 85.

Coons ended his career as associate editor of SeafoodNews.com, a major source for news about the North American seafood industry for which he was a well-known expert and advocate. From 1980 to 2000 he was executive director of the New England Fisheries Development Association (NEFDA).

Coons was born in Boston and graduated from Harvard College in 1953. He served two years stationed in West Germany as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. After working as a packaged goods marketer in New York, Delaware and Maryland, Coons earned a masters degree in marine affairs at the University of Rhode Island in 1978 and became executive director of the Rhode Island Seafood Council before helping to establish NEFDA.

NEFDA published a weekly news service, Coons FishFacts, for the New England seafood industry and Coons was a frequent spokesman for the seafood industry. He was appointed by the Secretary of Commerce to the National Fish and Seafood Promotion Council and served as its first chairman. Coons was named a Man of the Year by the National Fisheries Institute.

He was an avid sailor and member of the Chesapeake Bristol Club. Survivors include his wife, Deborah, three sons, a daughter and nine grandchildren.