Public invited to comment on guidance for fish farming in Washington waters

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The state Department of Ecology is ready to take public comments on a plan to make fish farming more secure in Washington waters.

A net pen collapse off Cypress Island in 2017 that released a quarter million non-native Atlantic salmon into the region’s waters highlighted environmental hazards posed by the operations.

That incident led to a new law effectively banning the farming of non-native fish by 2022.

The four remaining commercial net pen operations are permitted to raise native, all-female, sterile steelhead trout and other native fish could be considered in the future.

Comments on the draft plan are due by June 21st.