(ANACORTES, Wash.) — The Port of Anacortes commission passed a resolution last week in favor of a congressional waiver that would allow the new catcher-processor being built by Dakota Creek Industries to fish in U.S. waters, the Anacortes American reported.
The $75 million America’s Finest needs a waiver approved by both houses of Congress before it can fish in the Bering Sea due to a construction error made by the shipbuilder. Under the Jones Act, the amount of foreign-made steel in a U.S.-flagged newbuild is limited to no more than 1.5 percent of a ship’s weight. America’s Finest contains about 10 percent foreign parts by weight, according to the port’s resolution.
In May, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen introduced an amendment in the House requesting a Jones Act waiver for the ship after Dakota Creek discovered and reported the problem.
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