Furious members of the public turned out in force to express their disbelief at the first meeting of the harbour authority since it scrapped the controversial plans for the multi-million pound facility.
Former Penzance mayor Ruth Simpson, who has been a stakeholder in the project since 2002, said: "I want those who voted against to have a look at those rotting boats, the whole place will rot. Years of work have been put into this and all that has been tossed aside.
"What we have got is a shoddy building. I can't see why you have done this. Sometimes you have to take a risk if you want a future. How can you justify this?"
The new body, which was created only ten weeks ago, voted to abandon the scheme at a meeting on Friday last week by just one vote.
The authority decided it was not in a sufficiently strong position to commit to loan repayments over a period of 15 years that would tie its assets into a loan.
But they insisted on Tuesday morning that the European funding pot that was pencilled in to part-finance the market would still be available for an alternative scheme.
Gilbert McCabe, chairman of the commissioners, said: "This bold decision means we can now move forward, at a pace, without being tied to plans for a specific building, making creative use of our assets.
"We are very aware of the wishes of the wider community to see a new market built as the first stepping stone of regeneration; there is far less support from the fishing industry for the current proposal, but it also is looking for progress.
"We are resolved immediately to prepare a long-term business plan for the harbour that will have benefits for all stakeholders."
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN