Fishy Fishy

 Peter brings a story to light, along with it's fishy details.

What it talks about is an industry trying to work around and within regulations that would otherwise make their job impossible.

American commercial fisherman are hauling their catch of Alaskan Pollock to Canada, where it's put on a train for about 100 feet, and then trucked back to the USA.

What??  That's insane!  That's stupid!

Yeah, no it's not.  There's money involved of course, but something far more important.  If they don't pull this stunt, they might as well not catch the fish at all.  No fish sticks for you, little American peasant!

You see, the Jones act of 1920 says all shipping carried from US port to US port must be carried by US registered ships.  Therein is the problem.... there aren't enough US registered ships to carry the fish. In fact, we aren't even in the top ten list of nations who register maritime vessels. 

Why is that?  Because it's so costly and difficult to comply with US regulations and myriad regulating bodies that no commercial company will if they can help it.

The Jones act is a law made to protect a specific industries profits that's now backfired and is screwing Americans wholesale.  It was the Jones act that held up our aid to Porto Rico for weeks after the Hurricane.... there were no US flagged ships to satisfy the outdated law.

Remember... lawmakers are human, and have shown themselves to be the worst of the breed.  Ignorant, lazy, greedy, and dishonest.... and that's their likable traits.