OLYMPIA, Wash. – Cooke Aquaculture has filed an appeal against the state’s decision to end its leases for fish-farming in state waters with net pens.
In court documents filed Wednesday, December 14th, the Canada-based seafood giant said that the decision was arbitrary, politically motivated and contrary to science.
In a statement, Cooke said it has a state Supreme Court ruling and legislative mandate on its side that supports the farming of native species.
It also said that the 30-day deadline to harvest fish and to remove all farm equipment from two sites was unreasonable.
Last month, State Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz issued an executive order banning the aquaculture method, which involves raising fish in large floating pens anchored in the water, citing danger to struggling native salmon.
The company had been told the previous week that their remaining leases would not be renewed.
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources originally set a deadline of December 14th for Cooke to remove its facilities from leased areas at Rich Passage near Bainbridge Island, and Hope Island in Skagit Bay, but the agency has since extended the deadline for removal of fish to January 14th and removal of Cooke’s net pens to April 14th.
In 2017, tens of thousands of the company’s nonnative Atlantic salmon escaped after a pen break near the San Juan Islands.