Industry input may help shape future of Portland Fish Pier, Exchange

File photo An aerial view of the Portland Fish Pier.

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By Jessica Hall

The Portland Fish Pier Authority is creating a new strategic plan for the pier and the adjacent Portland Fish Exchange, and is seeking feedback from fishermen, pier tenants and users about how the pier should service the public, if at all.

A strategic review process, which began last year, has already collected feedback on a variety of topics. Among the findings from a survey of 80 stakeholders: Participants want to diversify the user base at the pier to include aquaculture. Tenants and fisherman also expressed support for the pier’s infrastructure. But they had mixed views on whether the pier and fish market should interact with the public, and clamored for longer hours at the exchange.

As a result, more reaction will be gathered about whether the public connection is needed or warranted, said Bill Needelman, the city of Portland’s waterfront coordinator.

“We’re not at the point of creating action steps. We’re still collecting information,” Needelman said.

A “public interface,” if desired, could mean a digital presence, social media, tours or any range of activities that could raise awareness and education about the pier and the exchange, Needelman said.

The survey results come as Bristol Seafood said it acquired a building on the Fish Pier to expand operations and automation to its business. The facility will be renovated and will be operational in the first quarter of 2022.

Meanwhile, the exchange struggles with lower landings during the pandemic, fewer boats in the state’s groundfishing fleet, and funding requirements and climate change that is affecting the mix of catch and amount of landings.

The Fish Exchange had landings of 324,000 pounds of groundfish through the end of September, but had budgeted to land 665,000 pounds during that time, said the Portland Fish Exchange’s general manager, Jodie York, who started in March.

On a positive note, the landings for September greatly increased compared with the May to August timeframe. The exchange landed almost as much fish in the month of September as it did from May to August combined, York said.

The Fish Exchange, which was operating at about a $30,000 a month shortfall, last year received a $350,000 bailout. Now the exchange continues to search for grants and pandemic-related funding sources to shore up its finances, York told Mainebiz. The exchange still loses money.

“We’ve had extremely low fish landings. We’ve tightened spending but we struggle with an aging building. We could get much closer to sustainability if landings were higher but landings have been down throughout New England,” York said.

Needelman said there has been broad support for the Fish Exchange's live auction, but there have been other concerns raised about that daily market. The report cited issues about operating hours, fish prices and the mix of harvests sold at auction.

“Fish prices are beyond our control. The desire for a mix of aquaculture and wild harvests has been expressed. No real surprises there. For hours, we need to balance the facility needs with staffing. At this current time, it’s hard to justify workers doing overtime when landings are down,” said York, who added that the exchange staff will make special arrangements to be open if they know ahead of time that a boat or truck will be late.

York said the Fish Exchange is a public entity and already gives tours and has speakers and provides education to the public. Requests for visits to the exchange have dropped during the pandemic, however.

York said she sees a future for the Fish Exchange, even with lower volume.

“In general, we’d love to have an increase in landings. We’re researching options for programs to get funding to help get landings higher,” York said. “I foresee this facility being here for the long haul. We’ll keep operating in whatever capacity the board and the Fish Exchange determine is best.”