Washington State confirms ban on netpen aquaculture

The State Board of Natural Resources for US Washington State has finalised an executive order banning all commercial netpen aquaculture in state waters, effectively making the entire US West Coast and Alaska now off-limits to netpen commercial fish farming. This codifies a ban that was first implemented unilaterally in 2022.

The ban on net pen aquaculture began after the 2017 collapse of a Cypress Island fish farm operated by Canadian company Cooke, which released hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon into state waters. Cooke was fined, and the state legislature passed a law ending Atlantic salmon farming in the state.

Cooke, in partnership with the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, responded by switching its farming operations from salmon to Pacific steelhead trout. Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, however, declined to renew their leases, and in 2022, she issued an executive order banning net pen aquaculture in the state.

Read a report in SalmonBusiness 9 January 2025