Erie's commercial fisherman prepares to open a new market near Presque Isle

Jim Shaffer has made a living for years selling furniture at his family-owned business, Seifert's Furniture.

But fishing has always been his passion. He grew up casting lines into Lake Erie off the cliffs of Harborcreek Township. And as a teenager, he saved his money from mowing grass to buy a small boat.

Shaffer, who operated a charter boat for a time, eventually obtained a commercial fishing license for his business Strong Winds Fisheries. With that, Shaffer became Erie's last commercially licensed fisherman on Lake Erie, a title once held by Jerry Mathers, who lost his license for the use of illegal gill nets.

"My main goal was to bring this fishery back to Erie," Shaffer said. "We went from the largest freshwater fishery in the world to a nothing, a zero. A town that was founded on commercial fishing didn't have any."

Now, Shaffer, who said he's found success fishing commercially over the last several years, has a new goal that he hopes to bring to life in the next few weeks.

He has leased the former Arby's restaurant at 2769 W. Eighth St., located directly across from the former Bel-Air Hotel. He plans to transform the former 2,200-square foot fast food restaurant, built in 1966, into Presque Isle Fish & Farm.

Shaffer, who currently sells perch to a number of local restaurants, said he expects to provide all the Lake Erie perch for the store as well as whitefish and some walleye.

But the market won't just offer what Shaffer collects in his own nets.

"We will be selling everything that swims," he said. Hand-lettered paper signs list some of what he plans to offer, including lobster, crab, scallops, shrimp and a variety of saltwater fish. What the store doesn't stock, it will be able to order, Shaffer said.

The word farm is also part of his new business name.

"The farm is going to be phase 2," said Shaffer, who plans to establish relationships with a number of Pennsylvania farmers who can provide beef, pork, poultry and produce.

"Hopefully it will be a nice one-stop shop for a surf-and-turf dinner," he said.

A good fit?

Shaffer said the building, with a commercial cooler and freezer, is well suited to his plans. He's also hopeful that the location, just east of Peninsula Drive, will also provide the business exposure to visitors to Presque Isle and Waldameer Park & Water World.

Sherry Bauer, of Sherry Bauer Real Estate, who leased him the building, feels good about Shaffer's chances for success.

Bauer said she expects Shaffer to benefit from the attention that's being focused on the busy neighborhood, where the Millcreek General Authority has agreed to purchase a number of properties, including the Bel-Aire, Joe Root's Grill and the tavern once known as Sandbar Draft House.

While some businesses in the neighborhood have struggled, Bauer points to the success of the Shops at the Colony and to the potential traffic from the new location of Underdog Barbecue, located in the former Perkins restaurant at 2714 W. Eighth St.

"I think he's going to do well," Bauer said. "I know I'll be a customer."

A long time coming

Getting to this point hasn't been easy. It took more time and effort than Shaffer first imagined when he first obtained his commercial fishing license about 14 years ago.

"We went out and tried to learn the lake and tried to catch fish commercially," Shaffer said. "It was a disaster for the first five to eight years. We didn't know what gear to use. We tried to copy what Jerry (Mathers) was using. He was actually pretty successful."

The problem, Shaffer said, was they not have had the correct information about his actual techniques.

Shaffer reached out to other fisherman, but didn't come away with much useful information.

"No one wants to give up their secrets. We were kind of a standstill," he said. "I just kept looking and looking."

Eventually, his search led him to Michigan, where he found a commercial trap net fishing boat listed for sale online. The owner, a fourth-generation fisherman, had died and his family wanted to sell his boat.

"I ended up driving up in the middle of the winter, climbing through four feet of snow to the old family farm where the boat was," Shaffer said.

The 50-foot boat needed work, but it came with some old nets. And most importantly, surviving family members were willing to share their knowledge.

"We drove up there every Friday night after work every weekend for about a year getting this boat sand-blasted and ready to to go," Shaffer said.

It was nine years ago on July 3 when Shaffer hauled the boat back to Erie, hoping to get a fresh start as a commercial fisherman.

It didn't happen overnight, but eventually, Shaffer's fortunes improved.

"Last year was my best year," he said.

And while he's catching plenty of fish, there's still plenty of room to improve. Strong Winds Fisheries isn't close to bumping into the state-imposed limit of 100,000 pounds of yellow perch a year.

"At this point, once we open the market, 100% of our yellow perch and whitefish will be from Pennsylvania. I feel confident we can catch enough to sell to both wholesale and retail."

Shaffer said the trap nets, as opposed to gill nets — which have been banned from commercial use in Pennsylvania since 1995 — help him sell a better product and sort out fish he doesn't intend to keep.

"All of our fish are alive and swimming," Shaffer said. "They are still kicking. With a gill net they can become entrapped and they die."

A dream realized

A fish market has always been his dream, Shaffer said. But Shaffer said it wasn't a dream that came easy.

"We went through the school of hard knocks," he said. "I have invested every penny I have ever made. I cashed in my 401(k) and my IRA to get this boat set up so we could start catching fish. We got that part figured out. It's been 15 years of labor and money — a dollar amount I couldn't even guess at."

Shaffer said he feels good about his location and his ability to compete.

"Presque Isle is a huge tourist attraction," he said. "I really liked that it already has a walk-in cooler and a walk-in freezer. I looked a couple of locations in the past year that would be complete rebuilds."

Shaffer said he's also banking on the combination of fresh product and low prices to draw customers.

"We will be cheaper than any other place in town. We are going to buy direct from Boston and direct from Strong Wind Fisheries. There will be no shipping or middleman."

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Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie fisherman plans to open new fish market in Millcreek Township