I understand that there are larger issues to be considered, but I am going to speak to you from a personal, hands-on perspective. I hope you will see the connection between how OPIC affects me, a small business exporter, and the bigger picture. For 35 years our company has designed, manufactured and sold aquatic plant management equipment used for weed control in lakes, rivers, ports, harbors and even oceans, where kelp was harvested as a commercial crop. Weed control is necessary to make an infested water body useable for transportation and recreation. Also, excessive weed growth negatively impacts fisheries and the natural balance of the waterway.
People often use our equipment in conjunction with or as an alternative to aquatic herbicides.
A family business, the company was started in 1964 as a specialty fabrication shop. By 1968 we prototyped the modern aquatic weed harvester, and developed the worldwide market for the equipment in the 1970's. We have equipment across the United States and in nearly 40 countries. The water management equipment line includes cutter boats which chop up dense overgrown vegetation, weed harvesters and related machinery that cut and remove the material, special boats designed to collect floating trash and litter, and a unique floating excavator. The equipment is marketed under the name of Aquarius Systems, and we are the world leaders of this niche industry.