Cannon Fish Market; Holding Up History

Cannon Seafood Market is a reminder of days gone by. The business was started in a time when people went from store to store, picking up fresh, hand-made, specialty items; a time before stores like Wal-Mart and Target provided the convenience of one stop shopping.  

"All the mom and pop places are closing down, chains are moving in, taking their spots, because rent is sky high. The only reason I'm here is because my dad owns the building," says owner Robert "Bobby" Moore.

Moore smiles as he recalls filling orders for Senator Ted Kennedy, three or four times a week. "He really liked to eat," he recalls.  

Moore's great-grandfather opened Cannon Seafood Market in 1937 on the Waterfront. Moore's father, now retired, bought the building that now houses the store in Georgetown, in 1965.

In the back they box orders of live lobsters and prepare slabs of salmon, halibut and tuna. Moore points to the bare walls and says back when business was booming in the 1970s and 1980s, the room was crowded with crates of seafood.

30 people used to work at Cannon, now there are three. Moore still moves swiftly, though, taking phone calls, pulling giant lobsters from a tank and shoveling ice on top of orders of fish.

 He says they do some catering and sell to a handful of restaurants in the neighborhood.

Moore says the cost of parking has killed business, and more recently, the oil spill. He says he's had to re-educate people about where their seafood is coming from.

But he remains optimistic. He wants to revitalize the company.

The phone rings, it's Mrs. Kennedy's maid, calling to see what they got in today. Moore says people still find their way in by word of mouth.

"I'll get it [business] back up there," he says. "I want something to leave for my children."