The pre-dawn blaze in May devastated an 85,000-square-foot warehouse at the end of Pier 45 in Fisherman’s Wharf. Fishers, who lease space from the port to store their equipment, say the port knew but did not stop homeless people from entering and setting camping and cooking fires within the building, which contained flammable materials and lacked automatic sprinklers and fire extinguishers. Many businesses were forced to acquire new gear for this month’s Dungeness crab season while some remain shut out altogether, they say. >click to read< 08:31
Tag Archives: Fisherman’s Wharf
The Iconic Dungeness Crab
In November 2014, I began to research a California cultural ritual, the famous Dungeness Crab. Icon of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, paired with the Wharf’s incredible sour dough, tourist and native alike used to flock there for a very special treat. When I was a kid, we dressed up to go to the city, to visit both my grandfather and the Wharf. It was part of being a Northern Californian. No more. Fisherman’s Wharf, Monterey, Bodega Bay and the Marine Lab, Moss Landing: I drove all over doing my favorite thing, talking to people and learning about California’s delicate balances. The first fisherman. Captain Frank Terlouw prepares the Barbara J, a classic wooden fishing trawler, for a 4 a.m. departure to check and unload his 260 crab pots, no matter the weather. He and one crewmember will head north toward Anchor Bay and return 38 hours later with Dungeness crabs destined for holiday meals, a Northern California tradition. Video, Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:25
Fisherman’s Wharf future divides SF boaters, port
The Port of San Francisco and Fisherman’s Wharf business owners agree parts of the area need maintenance and repair. That’s where the agreement ends. The Port Commission voted Tuesday to endorse the term sheet for a $550 million revitalization of Pier 45 and a parking lot currently operated by SP+ Parking, beginning progress on an effort that would construct a seafood market, food hall, and events center and performing arts space that port officials say will revitalize the wharf’s surrounding area. “As working fishing families, we can’t simply relocate for the sake of an amusement park,” Bates said. “Fisherman’s Wharf should be for fishing.” The wharf currently supports nearly 90 commercial vessels, 21 charter fishing boats and nine historic vessels. As the only sizable commercial fishing port remaining in San Francisco Bay, boats from other ports occasionally rely on its fuel, ice and bait facilities. Bates said that out-of-town crews and vessels will also take up space along the wharf during abundant salmon and crab seasons. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:42
‘It’s really scary’: The existential crisis of a Bay Area crabber
On a cloudy January evening, just as the sun lowered in the sky creating a sliver of orange along the horizon, John Mellor pulled his boat into the dock at Fisherman’s Wharf. Mellor’s 40-foot boat has been out at sea for more than 30 hours. There is a sense of excitement and anticipation as two crew members lift a cover, unveiling thousands of crabs in a container. Bucket by bucket, clawing crustaceans are weighed on a giant scale. The haul is a good one, and the success of each outing has become more crucial since the Dungeness crab season is half as long as it used to be. He waited through several anxious months of delays for the season to start. Mellor, 60, grew up in Oakland and began fishing as a teen. He is one of a few hundred commercial Dungeness crabbers in the state who have reluctantly adapted to shorter crabbing seasons. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 16:44
Dungeness Crab Season Delayed Again, SF Crabbers Miss Holiday Haul
For decades, fishers have earned a living selling Dungeness crab out of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. But many, like Shawn Chen Flading, have struggled over the last five years as the state has consecutively delayed the commercial season. “Every delay is difficult. Right now, I have zero income as a fisherman,” Flading said. The season, which has historically started on Nov. 15, is delayed until at least New Year’s Day to protect migrating humpback whales. Crabbers like Flading hope to catch the tail end of the holidays to recoup what they’ve lost. “It’s something people like to splurge on to create a feast,” Flading said. “But with the delay, we’ve lost all the holiday markets.” Photos, more, >>click to read<< 13:37
California’s Salmon Fishers Are Facing a Summer Without Salmon. Will They Get Federal Help?
On another day, Matt Juanes would have set out on the water long before sunrise. Juanes, an experienced salmon and crab fisherman who has worked out of Fisherman’s Wharf for over five years, is no stranger to the trade. Today, though, he would be chasing an unfamiliar catch for the first time: coonstripe shrimp. Juanes is one of hundreds of commercial fishers who dock along the Golden State coast and who would normally be out hunting mighty chinook or “king” salmon — the mainstay of California’s commercial salmon fishing industry. The first months of summer are typically a premier time for both salmon and salmon fishers. But this summer, California’s salmon fishing season is completely shut down for the first time in over a decade. Photos, >click to read< 09:40
Bay Area restaurants, crabbers prepare as whales force Dungeness crab season to close early
In an effort to protect humpback whales, the California Department of Fish & Wildlife announced commercial crab season in the region will come to a close on Saturday. “Being on the Wharf and in this restaurant all my life, we take a lot of pride in being able to go down to the boats, bring it back, serving the freshest fish possible,” said Paul Capurro, owner of Capurro’s Restaurant. “I think crab is one of the big things that makes Fisherman’s Wharf, Fisherman’s Wharf.” Local crabbers will see less revenue without spring fishing, said Holly Fruehling. “I for one was very excited to be spring fishing this year,” Fruehling said. Video, >click to read< 08:02
SF fishermen say Bay Area crab season may never again start before Thanksgiving
It’s going to be harder to find local crab this Thanksgiving, and possibly for many Thanksgivings to come. For the fourth year in a row, the start of San Francisco’s Dungeness crab season has been delayed, and local fishermen say a later crab season may now have shifted for good. “I think it is the new normal,” Max Boland, the vice president of sales at Safecoast Seafoods, a wholesale fishing company on Fisherman’s Wharf, John Barnett, a commercial crab fisherman and the president of the San Francisco Boat Owners Association, agrees. Video, >click to read<16:39
Is the Port of San Francisco trying to put an 80-year-old crab company out of business?
The Alioto-Lazio Fish Company, opened in the 1940s on San Francisco’s iconic Fisherman’s Wharf, is the last of five fishing businesses started by Tom Lazio. Opened with relatives Frank Alioto and Sal Tarantino, it was a beacon to local fishermen who unloaded fresh fish and crab, sold directly to the public at wholesale prices. Granddaughters Annette and Angela started helping out in their teens, mostly in the back office. When Lazio passed away in 1998 at the age of 92, wife Annetta Alioto Lazio took over and, when she passed away in 2003 at age 98, “the girls,” as they’re known on the wharf, took over the day-to-day operations. >click to read< 09:50
Popular Fisherman’s Wharf boat finds new home to sell fresh fish
The fisherman who built a following over the last three years by selling directly from his boat at Fisherman’s Wharf is moving his operation to the Port of Redwood City, a deepwater harbor jutting into the bay in the middle of Silicon Valley. There, Giuseppe Pennisi will also sell fish and chips and cioppino made with his freshly caught seafood out of a food truck called Pioneer Seafoods.,,, He took out a loan of $200,000 to buy the food truck trailer and to move the business. “I felt that I have maybe 10 more years left of my fishing career and I did not want to change my life,” >click to read< 08:28
Fisherman’s Wharf Pier 45: City commission to approve loan program for crab trap replacement
San Francisco is expected to begin demolition next week on the remains of the large Pier 45 shed in Fisherman’s Wharf that was destroyed by a May fire along with the thousands of fishers’ crab traps stored inside.,, Meanwhile, the Port Commission is preparing to finally approve a loan program using $1 million in Port funds to help fishers replace destroyed traps. Under the Port’s loan program, fishers can apply for $100 per replacement trap 
for the first 200 they buy and then “all remaining funds will be allocated proportionally based on the outstanding debts of each applicant,”,, John Mellor told the commission he has fished out of Fisherman’s Wharf for more than 40 years. The fire destroyed his crab gear, which is “essential for making a living as a fulltime fisherman.” “It’s a very desperate situation for the San Francisco fishing community and I can’t emphasize enough that we really need your help.” >click to read< 08:18
Fisherman’s Wharf: Restaurant threatens commercial fishing operation’s survival over a parking lot conflict
The parking area at Pier 47 could be used for al fresco dining as soon as next week but that space is where Giuseppe Pennisi, of Pioneer Seafoods, has been selling fresh-caught fish right off his boat for years. Now, the Port of San Francisco has ordered him to stop. “They said our business was causing problems for Scoma‘s but there’s no one even down here anymore except for people buying a few fish,” Pennisi said. Scoma’s owner Tom Creeden says they’ve submitted plans to Port of San Francisco officials to use the parking space for outdoor dining. Pioneer Seafoods will have to shut down its operations by June 15 after being given less than five days notice. It would also be a blow to Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, which receives 3,000 pounds of fish from Pennisi every two weeks to feed the homeless. >video, click to read< 08:37
Dramatic footage reveals full extent of damage from massive fire that tore through warehouse on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf
Dramatic photos have revealed the full extent of damage from a fire that engulfed a warehouse on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf early Saturday morning. Pictures taken after the blaze was extinguished show the structure destroyed by the fire, with its walls and roof collapsed. The blaze broke out shortly before dawn, sending a thick plume of orange smoke out across San Francisco Bay. Later in the morning, dozens of firefighters were seen surveying the smoldering building as smoke continued to billow across the city. lots of photos, video, >click to read< 13:52
Fire Tears Through San Francisco’s Pier 45 Fishing Offices, Equipment at Fisherman’s Wharf
The four-alarm fire at San Francisco’s Pier 45 will put a real strain on the fish and crab industry that’s an important part of Fisherman’s Wharf. Several dozen fishing businesses are located on the rear of the pier, including offices, vehicles and equipment. Hundreds of thousands of crab pots were lost at a cost of more than $300 apiece, leading to a burned plastic smell in the area. The fishermen and crab fleet keeps most of their gear at Pier 45. “It’s a complete wipeout for the majority of the crab fleet there,” California Coast Crab Association President Ben Platt told KCBS Radio. >click to read or listen< 22:31
BREAKING: Crews battle 4-alarm fire at San Francisco’s Pier 45 at Fisherman’s Wharf
Crews are battling an enormous fire a San Francisco warehouse on the city’s iconic Pier 45 at Fisherman’s Wharf Saturday morning. Firefighters told our sister station KGO-TV that additional structures and the SS Jeremiah O’Brien ship are threatened. The ship is one of two remaining fully functioning Liberty ships launched during World War II. It’s unclear what ignited the flames. Crews say no one has been hurt. The fire was first reported around 4:40 a.m. local time. As of 5:49 a.m., the fire department said crews were making progress on the flames. >click to read< 09:22
Providing seafood to the public in Gloucester: Drive-Thru “Pop-Up” Event-Tuesday 3/31/20
We at Fisherman’s Wharf Gloucester were so overwhelmed with the unexpected turnout from Saturday’s event. We want to continue to provide seafood to the public. We’re stocking up on Fresh Haddock right off F/V Miss Trish II and Scallops from our local day boats. Thank you for your support of our local business, and we look forward to seeing you at Tuesday’s event. Scallop and Haddock Drive-Thru “Pop-Up” Event, Tuesday March 31st Starting at 12:00 pm-5pm 37 Rogers Street, Gloucester, MA details, photos, >click to read< 10:01
California king salmon rebounds after drought
Reeling in a fish “feels good every time,” but this year has been surprisingly good,,, Commercial salmon catches have surpassed official preseason forecasts by about 50%, said Kandice Morgenstern, a marine scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Harvests have been particularly strong in Morro Bay, Monterey and San Francisco, but weaker along California’s northern coast. This year’s adult salmon are the first class to benefit from record rainfall that filled California rivers and streams in early 2017, making it easier for juvenile chinook to migrate to the Pacific Ocean, where they grow into full-size fish. Photo’s, >click to read< 09:50
Portland waterfront rezoning moves forward, Fisherman’s Wharf project doesn’t
As the Portland Planning Board moves forward on changes that will restrict commercial development on Commercial Street, the project that prompted it is no longer in play. The $40 million Fisherman’s Wharf mixed-use project planned for Fisherman’s Wharf on Commercial Street by Bateman Partners LLC is completely withdrawn, spokesman Mark Robinson said Wednesday. Ken MacGowan, owner of Custom House Wharf, said, “As a property owner I feel like we’re not being heard anymore.” But others, including lobstermen Willis Spear and Bill Coppersmith, both of whom are on the Waterfront Working Committee, pressed the importance of preserving the working waterfront. >click to read<11:36
6th Annual Herring Sale to Raise Funds for Fishermen Helping Kids With Cancer
Finest At Sea Victoria will see the once a year arrival of 20,000 pounds of fresh herring. This one-day herring sale is a fundraiser for Fishermen Helping Kids With Cancer (FHKWC) 100% of the proceeds go directly to improving the quality of life of kids with cancer. The sale starts at 7:00am, with the most devout herring lovers lining up hours earlier in the still dark morning. This event runs entirely on the passion of volunteers and goes until we are sold out. Bring your pails and coolers and join us at 27 Erie St across from Fisherman’s Wharf at 7:00am Saturday December 2. WHY KIDS’ CANCER? The spark for Fishermen Helping Kids with Cancer click here to read the story 21:58
For the first time in almost two decades, a fisherman sold fish straight from his boat at Fisherman’s Wharf.
Giuseppe “Joe” Pennisi sold about 230 pounds of rockfish, petrale sole and other fish from his boat on Saturday and Sunday, making him the first to take part in a pilot program at the Port of San Francisco that allows fishermen to sell directly to retail customers from their boats. David and Evelyn Riley of Fremont were the first customers to stroll up Saturday to Pennisi’s boat, the Pioneer, which was docked on Pier 47 near Scoma’s Restaurant. click here to read the story 11:11
Pilot Program – Port allows fish sales from boats at Fisherman’s Wharf
Fishermen have been granted the legal right to sell fish from their boats at Fisherman’s Wharf for the first time in nearly two decades. The pilot program, approved by the Port Commission on Tuesday afternoon, will last for one year, at which time the Port will consider making it permanent. The effort is meant to help fishermen survive in the rocky fishing industry. “We’re struggling just to keep our boat here,” said Giuseppe “Joe” Pennisi, who captains the fishing boat “Pioneer” out of San Francisco. click here to read the story 11:37
SF Port Commission considers letting fish be sold directly from boats at Fisherman’s Wharf
San Francisco fishermen are hoping to catch a break by reviving an old policy that allows them to sell fish directly from their boats. Dozens of fishermen, processing tenants, wholesalers and owners from local businesses packed the Port Commission meeting on Tuesday in what Commission President Willie Adams described as unprecedented numbers to discuss the proposed policy, which was resurrected by fishermen who approached the Port of San Francisco in January. The proposal would allow fishermen to sell fish to the public, fresh from their boats, at the dock in Fisherman’s Wharf Harbor for the first time in nearly two decades. But some fish processors and wholesalers have concerns of an uneven playing field. click here to read the story 09:04
Fishermen Who Fled Slavery in San Francisco Sue Boat Owner
Two Indonesian fishermen who escaped slavery aboard a Honolulu-based tuna and swordfish vessel when it docked at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf are suing the boat’s owner for tricking them into accepting dangerous jobs they say they weren’t allowed to leave. Attorneys for Abdul Fatah and Sorihin, who uses one name, say in a lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday that they were recruited in Indonesia seven years ago to work in Hawaii’s commercial fishing fleet without realizing they would never be allowed onshore. They have since been issued visas for victims of human trafficking and are living in the San Francisco area. The lawsuit alleges that San Jose, California, resident Thoai Nguyen, owner and captain of the Sea Queen II, forced Sorihin and Fatah to work up to 20-hour shifts, denied them medical treatment and demanded thousands of dollars if they wanted to leave before their contracts expired. Nguyen did not return calls seeking comment. Read the story here 15:05
Fisherman’s Wharf feast celebrates belated crab season, but exposes wounds
The dripping, juicy crab served to fishing industry dignitaries, politicians and other celebrators Friday in San Francisco may have served as a salve for those suffering from the late opening of the commercial Dungeness season, but it didn’t ease the belly pains caused by money troubles. “This has been a disaster,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, who joined San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and state senators Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, in a crab feast at Fisherman’s Wharf honoring the crab season’s opening this week. Huffman seemed to catch himself and adjust his tone as he glimpsed the melted butter, fresh crab meat, sourdough bread and wine piled high on tables set up on the pier outside Seamen’s Memorial Chapel. Read the rest, Click here 22:33
The real Fisherman’s Wharf: An addiction to the sea
Sandquist, a commercial fisherman, sips his whiskey and beer and looks out the window. He just returned from a trip to Monterey after the commercial anchovy fishing season closed. His stress level is noticeably lower, but his mind has still been on fishing — thinking about which crew member picked up the fish scraps the other morning for the upcoming crab season. His fishing obsession started when he was young. He would set bait traps with cat food he bought at a local pet store and sell them for a quarter apiece to the bait shop. Video, Read the rest here 09:47
