With less quantity, Portland Fish Exchange keeps focus on quality

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 29, 2026

The Portland Fish Exchange opened on Commercial Street’s waterfront in 1986 as America’s first all-display fresh seafood auction. But since 2010, the auction has been silent, conducted by computer, with most buyers placing bids remotely from Portland and around the Northeast. The sedate auction room handles a lower volume of seafood today than in the past, about 70,000 pounds a week in the summer, 50,000 a week in the colder months. The nonprofit exchange has struggled financially over the past couple of decades. The Portland Fish Exchange tends to attract smaller boats on shorter trips, so the fish are often fresher and better quality.