Harbor Fish Market is a prominent and historic fish market in the

Old Port of Portland, Maine The Old Port (sometimes known as the Old Port Exchange) is a district of Portland, Maine, known for its cobblestone streets, 19th-century brick buildings and fishing piers. The district is filled with boutiques, restaurants and bars. Because o ...

, United States. It was established in the late 19th century in the city's working waterfront, and is still doing business out of its original home at 9

Custom House Wharf Custom House Wharf is a historic wharf in Portland, Maine, on the edge of the Fore River. Named for Portland's United States Custom House, which stands across Commercial Street from the wharf, on Pearl Street, the wharf is located between Ma ...

, which was owned by the same family between circa 1807 and 2022. It is popular with both locals and tourists. In the 1990s, their store frontage appeared in photographs so often that the family trademarked the image. The business was given its current name in 1966, when Ben Alfiero Sr. and his older brother John purchased the business. Ben became the sole owner in 1975, later assisted by his sons Nick, Ben Jr. and Mike. Ben Sr. retired in 2000. As the business continued to grow, a larger processing plant was opened on Commercial Street. A second retail location, in North Deering, was opened around the same time. When fishing restrictions were introduced in the late 1980s, Harbor Fish closed its processing plant and moved it back to its newly expanded Custom House Wharf location. The original store was just over twenty feet wide. The company opened a second location in March 2022, located on U.S. Route 1 in Scarborough, Maine, in a space shared with Rosemont Market. File:Harbor Fish rear.jpg, The rear of the business File:Harbor Fish interior.jpg, The interior (2022)

Notable patrons

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Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

and Mainer native Patrick Dempsey have all visited the store.

Publications

* ''Harbor Fish Market'' (Nick Alfiero,

Down East Books Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns the book distributing comp ...

, 2013)

References

{{reflist Companies based in Portland, Maine Culture of Portland, Maine Fish markets 19th-century establishments in Maine Retail companies established in the 19th century Old Port of Portland, Maine