Ms. Park's Address

Ms. Park made her annual address to the FFinest crew at Fishermen's Finest Anacortes this week.  

Good people are the key to our success and Ms. Park took time out of her speech to recognize Henry Siosi for 272 days at sea in 2016 aboard the American No.1.  We recognize you Henry, as 'A man of steel,' and applaud your hardwork and dedication to Fishermen's Finest.  

As we look back upon our 30th anniversary - 2016, we recall that another member of today's meeting was aboard the American No.1 waving as the vessel went through the Ballard locks on April 17, 1986 - Captain Erin Moore, who started out at the bottom and has worked his way up through the ranks at Fishermen's Finest - Thank you Erin for your hardwork and dedication to FFI.

We are now at another defining moment in the history of Fishermen's Finest.  In 1979, Senator Warren Magnuson (Magnuson Act) christened the American No.1 proclaiming, 'this vessel marks the beginning of the end of foreign vessels in US waters.'  The American No.1 was launched as a challenge to foreign fleet (Alaska Fishermen's Journal Vol.2, no.9 September 1979) and she is now leading the way to America's Finest (Anacortes American October 5, 2016) 

As Ms. Park told the crowd, 'we have much to be proud of, but also much hard work ahead of us.'  The American No.1 led the way for us in the freezer trawler fisheries of the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.  The American No.1 represents the beginning of the Americanization of the fleet; America's Finest represents the beginning of the modernization of the US Fleet.  We are pleased to be working on this project with the fine people of Dakota Creek Industries, right down the street, here in Anacortes.

She also reminded us of her vision that the inverted pyramid, with our industry on the bottom, supporting the rest of industry.  'We at Fishermen's Finest have produced over 2 billion half pound meal portions of fish - the purest protein in the world.  Now, with America's Finest, we will produce even more, utilizing nearly 100% of the fish that comes aboard (meal and oil) and with the smallest carbon footprint in Alaska.  

'We should take pride and responsibility in being in the production industry, which holds up the inverted pyramid of society and makes everything else possible... A nation that does not produce the goods it consumes will weaken and falter.'

Fishermen's Finest ~ our name says it all.