Now in its 30th year, Newport-based Sara Star Fishing Charters is a study in small-business succession planning.
The business was founded in 1995 by Capt. Joseph Aiello, who has been fishing New England waters for more than four decades as a commercial fisherman and private charter captain. His daughter, Capt. Coral Rose Aiello, has been slowly taking the wheel, which is more of a formality given that she has been fishing since she was a young child and became first mate on the Coral Rose at 14.
In 2023, she assumed captain’s duties on the Coral Rose, making her father first mate and becoming one of the few female captains in Rhode Island.
The change of the guard is a source of both humor and pride for the elder Aiello.
“I’ve been acting as a relief captain,” he said. “It’s a role reversal. She’s got me on the back deck and is yelling at me all day long.”
While Aiello has instilled in his daughter the importance of old-school techniques and fundamentals such as setting and pulling anchors, safety and navigation, Coral Aiello has branched out, establishing a popular social media persona under the “Professional Hooker” moniker, which has amassed more than 30,000 followers.
The digital presence has paid dividends, as the typical customer base of local fishers and summer tourists has been supplemented by an increase in the more hardcore anglers who have seen the Professional Hooker pop up in their algorithm-driven social media feeds.
“We had a group come from Texas to book a charter, and when my dad asked how they heard of us, they said they were followers on Instagram,” Coral Aiello said. “So that was cool.”
Coral Aiello also serves on the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council, representing the commercial fishing industry.
“This girl is no rookie,” said Joseph Aiello, who is confident that his daughter’s skill set and experience will buoy Sara Star Fishing Charters for future generations and protect it from the growing competition along the Rhode Island coastline.
While the 2023 season was the busiest in the charter’s history thanks to a desire among many consumers to get out on the water post-pandemic, there was also a flipside. The number of private commercial charters cruising Narragansett Bay has doubled in the last three years, said Coral Aiello, which has taken a bite out of annual revenues.
“It prompted a lot of non-fishing people to get boats and start their own fishing charters,” she said.
An active voice on sustainability, Coral Aiello said another challenge has been commercial fishing regulators clamping down on the rules governing the amounts and sizes of catch, with some anglers limited to one fish per day on certain species and size limits that can become overly burdensome and dampen the passengers’ experience, particularly if they prefer to take their bites home.
“They have gotten a little strict,” she said.
But Sara Star is not limited to devoted anglers. The Aiellos said while most customers are looking to go fishing, in the high season they serve bachelorette and bachelor party groups and others seeking a pleasurable cruise of Narragansett Bay.
“We try and accommodate whatever people want to do,” John Aiello said. “After all, we are in the hospitality business.”
Next on the horizon is expanding operations to the giant bluefin fishery, which over time has been coming in closer to the shore.
“We’d like to get our feet wet with that,” he said. “Why not?”
OWNERS: Coral Rose Aiello and Joseph Aiello
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Fishing charter
LOCATION: 128 Long Wharf Mall, Newport
EMPLOYEES: Three
YEAR FOUNDED: 1995
ANNUAL REVENUE: WND
