Group takes DCI support to D.C.

Kudos to Anacortes Mayor Laurie Gere and others making up a group that traveled to Washington, D.C. recently to support a waiver for the locally-built ship “America’s Finest.” The Anacortes American reports that “… the ship can’t operate without a waiver because builder Dakota Creek Industries (DCI) mistakenly used too much foreign steel in the hull. The error makes the ship non-compliant with the Jones Act and ineligible for fishing in the Bering Sea. The (lobbying) group also included Helena Park, CEO of Fishermen’s Finest, Hollie Anthonysz, a project manager at Dakota Creek, Mount Vernon Mayor Jill Boudreau, Andy Culbertson, owner of Culbertson Marine, and Mike Porter, owner of Tacoma Diesel and Equipment.” An act of Congress is necessary to approve a waiver that will allow the sale of the fishing vessel to be used in American waters.