OLYMPIA, Wash. – The state of Washington will no longer allow commercial net pen fish farms in its waters.
Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz announced the order on Friday, November 18th.
Franz says there is no way to safely farm finfish in open sea net pens without jeopardizing struggling native salmon.
The Department of Natural Resources terminated the state’s last two net pen leases last Monday, November 14th, and ordered Canadian company Cooke Aquaculture to begin removing the facilities and repair any environmental damage by December 14th.
Tribes and conservationists are applauding the move, which is the culmination of the response to a Cooke net pen collapse off Cypress Island in 2017 that released hundreds of thousands of non-native Atlantic salmon into the Sound.
Cooke pivoted to raising steelhead, but the department determined that also cannot be done without serious impacts to native fish and the environment.