Worries mount despite good business at DC’s Fish Market

Jessie Taylor Seafood says the fish market is benefitting greatly from commercial expansion at The Wharf, which was completed in 2022 in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood.

Management and employees of Jessie Taylor Seafood said that they have not had to raise prices, nor have they seen a decline in customers, especially those similar in demographic who may have visited before The Wharf’s revamp. The business sells a variety of seafood, including fish, crabs, shrimp, and oysters. Customers can choose whether they want their seafood cooked, live, or raw.

The Municipal Fish Market has served seafood to D.C. residents and tourists for over 200 years, operating since 1805. With recent developments at The Wharf beginning in 2017 by real estate company Hoffman and Associates, the Municipal Fish Market has had to make changes.

Captain White Seafood City left the fish market in 2021 due to legal battles over lease agreements with real-estate partners Hoffman-Madison. The company operated for approximately 50 years before its departure.

Marcos Duilnea, a longtime employee of Jessie Taylor Seafood, attributes the company’s continued presence at The Wharf to its commitment to the community of Southwest.

Duilnea said that while Captain White Seafood City has left the fish market, “everybody in the community says not to, so that’s why we’re not. The reason we’re staying here is, we’re family.”

Jessie Taylor Seafood has been open for business for over 80 years, since 1939.

The business, owned by the Evans family for generations, has survived various changes at The Wharf. Greg Evans, manager of Jessie Taylor Seafood, said the customers who visit the market haven’t changed.

“Same family members. I’ve known families for generations.” Evans said.

Evans has managed the market for 35 years and said that, despite the developments, “everything is good,” even calling it an “upgrade” for The Wharf before the 2017 renovations by Hoffman-Madison.

D.C. resident Robert Porter has been a customer at the Municipal Fish Market for around 40 years. He said he’s happy with the commercial expansion at The Wharf and that it helps the fish market overall.

“They’ll bring more people coming in and more people come out and shop,” Porter said.

He added that he didn’t have to make any changes in his purchases at the fish market, such as paying more for seafood or experiencing longer waiting times.

Porter said that he hasn’t noticed a contrast in Jessie Taylor Seafood’s business today compared to the company’s operations before the developments by Hoffman-Madison. He said he sees the developments as beneficial to attracting new customers and improving their experience at The Wharf.

However, others think that the future of the fish market may be negatively impacted by the effects of commercial expansion.

Alistair Delchamps, a new D.C. resident who moved to the city this year, doesn’t have a good first impression of The Wharf’s renovations.

“Sounds like, I mean, everything is just going to get more expensive because the price is going to go up because they’re building more, and the rent’s going to go up because it’s all so nice. So, it’s going to be hard to keep these prices staying reasonable,” Delchamps states.

He added that it sounds like the definition of gentrification.

Marquell Washington, an advisory neighborhood commissioner with ANC 6D01, which includes The Wharf, said that though there have been improvements to enhance the Southwest Waterfront’s commercial and residential areas, the consequences of development have negatively impacted small businesses.

Washington said that the issues of high prices, limited parking, lack of funding transparency, and dwindling vendor options can impact businesses and customers at the fish market if it continues to operate under current leasing agreements with Hoffman-Madison.

However, he said some options would alleviate the issues the fish market could face in the future.

Washington said that the D.C. Main Streets Program, managed by the Department of Small and Local Business Development, would support the Municipal Fish Market when competing with larger companies at The Wharf through incentives like grants and business services.

He said that Jessie Taylor Seafood should collaborate with larger private entities to strengthen the fish market’s reach when those entities continue development.

Washington said that these pathways could solidify the presence of markets like Jessie Taylor Seafood at the Municipal Fish Market and improve the conditions for vendors at The Wharf.