(WASHINGTON) — The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a Jones Act waiver for America's Finest, a new U.S.-built trawler that has too much foreign-fabricated steel in its hull to legally fish in U.S. waters, the Skagit Valley Herald reported.
The measure for the $75 million vessel, built by Dakota Creek Industries, was included in the National Defense Authorization Act that cleared the House on Thursday morning. It’s the second time the House has passed such a waiver. A previous waiver failed to get through the Senate in April.
Both Dakota Creek and Fishermen’s Finest, which contracted for the ship, stand to face significant financial losses without a waiver. Fishermen’s Finest has declined to comment but had previously announced its intention to sell the ship abroad after the first waiver attempt failed.
The latest measure contains temporary fishing limitations on Fishermen’s Finest. These restrictions were absent from the original waiver that passed the House in July, but were pushed forward by some Pacific Northwest fishing companies and officials from Unalaska, Alaska, public documents have shown.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will decide when the Senate takes up the measure.
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