On Tuesday night, the San Francisco Port Commission approved the terms of a new development plan intended to breathe new life into a struggling Fisherman’s Wharf. It is meant to attract sightseers to the fishing operation, but the fishermen say there may be nothing left to see.
There’s no doubt that Fisherman’s Wharf has fallen onto hard times. Many of the iconic restaurants including Alioto’s, Tarantino’s and Fisherman’s Grotto have closed. But the new redevelopment proposal, by a group called “Fisherman’s Wharf Revitalized,” would pump more than $500 million into a plan to refurbish the structure and create a new tourist attraction at Pier 45.
In their pitch to the city, they wrote, “The neighborhood risks getting stuck in a downward spiral that will be very difficult and costly to reverse. While tourists may have felt compelled to visit in the past, the city can no longer afford to take for granted that they will continue to come without new investments and attractions added in the immediate future.”
The idea is to create a mixed-use restaurant and entertainment area on Pier 45 centered around the fishing operation, including what they call an “experiential museum” where people could watch the fisherman as they process their catch.
“Apparently, they want to put grandstands in here, grandstand bleachers in here and make this some sort of recreational center for families to come to where they’re not going to impede us,” said fisherman Alex Toponce. “They want the public to look at us from afar, but that’s not going to impede us.”
Toponce thinks the whole idea is stupid. Currently, most of Pier 45 is used to store all the gear and the thousands of crab pots used by the fishermen. They say it’s vital that those be close at hand, but the new development would wipe it out as a storage area.
“They don’t understand our business at all. But that’s the whole thing [to] push us out,” said Toponce. “So they’re doing a good job of it. We got nothing left, you know?”
Between shortened seasons and new regulations, the fishermen say they’re just barely hanging on.
But the Port of San Francisco likes what the redevelopment plan would do for the area, saying in a statement, “The project aligns with the Port’s goals of reenergizing the waterfront, supporting the fishing industry, increasing public access to the bay, advancing seismic and flood protection efforts, and making the area attractive to diverse groups of people.”
They believe bringing in more businesses would help, rather than hurt, the ones that are currently there.
“There’s just no benefit to the fishermen, whatsoever,” said Chris Franks as he worked on a crab trap. He’s fished since he was 12 years old and now owns a sustainable seafood company called “Hook to Table.” Franks said it doesn’t make sense to him to center a new attraction around an industry that may be forced out in the process.
“The whole area’s based off of Fisherman’s Wharf,” he said. “People used to like to come to and see the fishermen. It was a big attraction. But if you push the fishermen out, there’s nothing but a t-shirt factory.”
Now that the project’s term sheet has been approved by the Port Commission, it heads to City Hall for consideration by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. It’s estimated that construction wouldn’t occur until sometime in 2028. But the fishermen say if they pack up their boats and head north, there may not be much for the tourists to look at.
John Ramos
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