What’s been uppermost in our minds as we saw this project through is that the traditional center of the fishing fleet has always been at Fishermen’s Wharf, Meigg’s Wharf originally. Although Fishermen’s Wharf certainly is a tourist attraction, all you have to do is go down beyond Jefferson Street to come upon a very vital fish handling and processing operation. There are over a dozen fish handling and processing operators down at Pier 45.

Altogether the fishing industry is a $100 million-plus annual business for San Francisco. It sometimes surprises people to learn that a great deal of the fish handled in the fish processing area of Fishermen’s Wharf comes in not by sea but over the road or by air. In order to supply fish day in and day out to restaurants, particularly a lot of the more exotic fish that are sold, they have to go to sources all around the world.

I would say over 80% of it comes in that way.

Fishing is a pretty tightly regulated industry and there’s always Mother Nature. For instance, it’s salmon season but there’s been gale force winds out there for two weeks almost so they haven’t been able to get out there and fish. But the restaurants want their salmon so they’re getting them right now from up north, into Alaska, off the coast of Chile and Scotland. Likewise, some of the other fish…Orange Roughy, for example, is a really hot fish. That comes out of the Tasmanian Sea, between the island of Tasmania and Australia. During the salmon season, the King Salmon that they catch here is very highly prized by gourmets. Restaurants in the know are going to do their best to provide fresh locally caught salmon. It’s the tastiest, the freshest because wild salmon is a lot more tastier and beautiful on the plate than a foreign salmon or a salmon that’s been sitting on ice for a while.

Environmental concerns sincerely have been concern number one as we’ve developed this project. Industrial and commercial activities in the urban setting are increasingly scrutinized, so we’re held to a higher standard then other fishing centers like Half Moon Bay and Bodgea Bay. But we’re happy to meet the challenge because it’s the right thing to do. This new Harbor proves you can run a commercial fishing operation in the middle of an urban setting and still respect the environment.