News Summary June 28, 2017
Today's Main Story: Dakota Creek and America’s Finest Not Out of the Woods on Jones Act Exemption
Dakota Creek Shipyard and the owners of F/V America’s Finest are not out of the woods yet on their Jones Act violation. The company has been seeking a congressional waiver, after the Coast Guard said that in building the F/V America’s Finest, a 261 ft. catcher processor for Fishermen’s Finest, the shipyard violated Jones Act rules. The Jones Act requires that vessels used in US fisheries and in Coastal Trade be built in the US, and has tight regulations regarding the percentage of foreign steel that is acceptable. In order to fish in the US, the vessel must pass the Coast Guard certification that it meets the requirements of the Jones Act. The America’s Finest did not meet that standard. As there is no appeal of the Coast Guard ruling, the only option for the owners is to go to Congress for a legislative waiver.
In other news, West Coast rockfish has been pretty much off the market for close to 20 years and now the groundfish industry is grappling with how to make it a mainstay product at supermarkets and in foodservice. Welcome the Groundfish Market Development Initiative. The initiative has been almost a year in the making. News of greater access to key rockfish stocks in 2016 and expected regulation changes in 2017 prompted the Trawl Commission to
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