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Seattle, San Francisco and St. Petersburg?

The push is on to create a fisherman’s wharf along St. Petersburg’s waterfront. It would revitalize the area, some say. The city isn’t so sure.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN and STEPHEN NOHLGREN
Published August 12, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG — Desperate for space to unload their catch, commercial fisherman want the city to make the Port of St. Petersburg into a thriving fisherman’s wharf.

The open-air seafood market, like ones already in Seattle, San Francisco and other major coastal cities, would draw curious tourists and give new downtown residents another destination along St. Petersburg’s sprawling waterfront, the fishermen say.

The fisherman say the public wharf also could reinvigorate Florida’s smallest port, which has lost $1.2-million since October 2003. It stands to lose an additional $748,000 next year, according to the city.

But city leaders aren’t sure what they want to do on the waterfront.

The area already serves as a base of operations for the U.S. Coast Guard and several marine research institutions, and the city has long wished the port would become a cruise destination.

Presented recently with the idea of adding a fish market, Mayor Rick Baker was reluctant to commit to any specific future.

For local fishermen, however, St. Petersburg may be their last great hope.

“We are not asking for a free lunch,” said Will Ward, a St. Petersburg resident and third generation fisherman who owns Captain’s Finest Seafood in Tampa. “We are asking for something that will provide revenue.

“We could put 100 boats down there tomorrow.”

Nowhere else to go

Commercial fishing is a $100-million industry in Pinellas County, Ward estimates. But the local industry is in risk of dying because there is nowhere left for commercial fishermen to dock.

In the past seven years, Pinellas County has lost three of its four largest fish houses to development. The last remaining one, Madeira Beach Seafood, sits on leased land that is up for sale.

A handful of small fish houses operate in Tarpon Springs, Madeira Beach and Redington Shores, but their slips can hold only a few dozen boats.

Ward and Bobby Spaeth, who owns Madeira Beach Seafood, are searching for new locations to develop, but coastal land is too expensive.

That’s why both have turned to St. Petersburg, a city that still owns much of its waterfront.

Though the two men are working independently, their ideas for the port are similar.

Both want to turn the area into a working waterfront for commercial fisherman. They believe the spectacle of huge fish being unloaded, hundreds of pounds at a time, is enough to create a tourist attraction.

Plus, visitors could purchase fresh fish right on the waterfront. Where grouper would cost $16 a pound at a grocery store, Ward said it could sell for $10 a pound directly from the fishermen.

There could be flowers and produce and antiques for sale nearby, even a seafood restaurant, Ward and Spaeth say.

“This could be an east coast San Francisco if they could do it right,” said Martin Fisher , a commercial fisherman who sells his catch at St. Petersburg’s Saturday market.

“It’s just not a place for us to unload our fish,” added Ward. “It becomes a BayWalk Two.”

Besides dock space, the fishermen would need a place to refuel and huge ice machines to keep their catch fresh, Ward and Spaeth said. They’re unsure how much the changes would cost, or who would pay for them.

For it to happen, though, city officials might have to finally abandon one of their longest-held hopes, that St. Petersburg can become a destination for cruise ships.

'Call’ unanswered

St. Petersburg leaders have hoped to make their city a port of call for the cruise industry since at least 1986. But cruise ships, including the troubled Ocean Jewel gambling casino, have failed to stick here.

City officials, however, continue to hold some hope.

The city is waiting on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report to see if a channel could be dug to accommodate hulking, modern cruise liners. That report, due later this year, will likely determine the city’s next step.

In the meantime, a series of expansions are being considered along the 1,200-foot-long port wall,  including 25,000 additional square feet of retail space and a marine educational component called Port Discovery. That plan, fishermen say, could adapt well into a Fisherman’s Wharf-type concept.

Such a partnership would not be unique.

In Martin County, the government agreed in 2004 to lease 600 feet of public dock space to commercial fishermen.

Mike Baker, president of the non-profit group formed to run the dock, said a riverwalk has already been built and plans are being discussed to add a market component.

And just last month in Indian River County, county commissioners agreed to purchase an old fish house for $1.5-million. Commissioner Wesley Davis, who had pushed the county to purchase the property for more than a year, said it’s part of the county’s fishing history worth preserving.

Like Martin County, Indian River plans to form a not-for-profit to operate the fish house, located in Sebastian.

“You know the draw people have to the water,” Davis said. “Anybody who has had opportunity to watch a working fish operation knows it turns into a tourist attraction.”

Could it work here?

City officials like the thought of a working waterfront, though they differ on where it might work best.

Rick Mussett, the city development administrator, said conceivably a wharf could be constructed into the approach to the city’s Pier, which is scheduled to be rebuilt in the coming years.

And Mayor Rick Baker said there may be possibilities at the south end of Bayboro Harbor, opposite the port facilities.

“Over the past few years, with the real estate industry being as hot as it is, lots of folks said to change the zoning to allow residential,” Baker said of the area around the harbor. “But I’ve resisted that. Having a marine area is a good thing.”

Baker said he would meet with the fishermen to discuss the concept.

City Council member Jamie Bennett said he’s interested in the fish house concept at the port, where he said something needs to be done.

“I like the idea of a fisherman’s wharf,” said Bennett, who offered to work with the fishing industry on a proposal. “What we have down there isn’t working. It’s high time to try something else.

“Tampa has the port facility,” Bennett said. “We need to go for another niche.”

Aaron Sharockman can be reached at (727) 892-2273 or asharockman@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 12, 2006, 21:22:48]