The Board of Natural Resources in the U.S. state of Washington is set to vote on a ban on commercial net pen aquaculture in state waters, providing firmer legal standing for a prohibition which was implemented unilaterally by executive order in 2022.
The movement to ban finfish farming off the coast of Washington gained momentum after the 2017 collapse of a Cypress Island fish farm owned by fish-farming firm Cooke, which released hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon into the Puget Sound. In response, the state took individual action against the company, ending that lease and fining Cooke; the legislature then voted to end Atlantic salmon farming in the state, forcing aquaculture companies to shift to species like steelhead trout.
However, many opponents of finfish farming wanted the state to take further action against the practice, seeing the 2017 incident as reason enough to end all net pen aquaculture operations in the state. Washington Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Hilary Franz agreed, issuing an executive order in 2022 to ban the practice.
“As we’ve seen too clearly here in Washington, there is no way to safely farmed finfish in open sea net pens without jeopardizing our struggling native salmon,” Franz said at the time. “Commercial finfish farming is detrimental to salmon, orcas, and marine habitat. I’m proud to stand with the rest of the West Coast today by saying our waters are far too important to risk for fish farming profits.”
Both Cooke and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe launched separate lawsuits to overturn the ban, but neither proved successful in the long term.
Cooke withdrew its appeal earlier this year, claiming that the Department of Natural Resources was not sharing the public records it needed to succeed. The S’Klallam Tribe lawsuit did achieve a symbolic victory, with a county judge ruling in October 2023 that the 2022 ban “has no legal effect.”
While pro-aquaculture groups celebrated the court ruling, it may not have any real impact; net pen aquaculture operations have all been shut down in the state, and there may not be a path forward for them to return.
The judge ruled that Franz’s executive order simply began a rulemaking process for a ban, meaning that the state could still move forward with finalizing and implementing the ban, preventing the return. Quietly, the Department of Natural Resources has moved to do so. In October, the department published the net pen ban rule to the Washington State Register, setting up a vote by the Board of Natural Resources to make the ban official.
The vote is scheduled for 7 January 2025 in Olympia, Washington.
It could be the last opportunity for Franz to cement her legacy on ending net pen fish farming in the state. Franz declined to run for another term as Department of Natural Resources commissioner in 2024, opting instead to run for Washington governor in 2023 and for Congress in 2024, winning neither. With incoming Commissioner-elect Dave Upthegrove set to take office in mid-January, the 7 January vote will be Franz’s last chance to codify the ban before leaving office.
Conservation groups and anti-salmon farming groups have welcomed the vote.
“From victories in the legislature to successful legal challenges, the proposed rule is the culmination of nearly a decade of unwavering advocacy by local communities, environmental groups, Tribal Nations, fishers, businesses, elected officials, scientists, and attorneys working in collaboration to protect the health of Puget Sound from the damaging effects of commercial net pens,” Wild Fish Conservancy Executive Director Emma Helverson said in a statement.
The effort has received some opposition, with representatives from the S’Klallam Tribe and the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance providing public comments against the ban during the board’s November meeting.
“Cooke Aquaculture and its allies in the aquaculture industry are doing everything they can to influence the upcoming vote in a desperate attempt to return this polluting industry to Puget Sound. We’ve come too far to let corporate interests undermine the incredible progress we’ve worked so hard to achieve,” Helverson said. “It’s urgent that we come together one final time to ensure Puget Sound will continue to be protected for future generations.”
