Cooke Aquaculture Pacific has decided to withdraw its appeal against the cancelation of its net pen leases at Rich Passage and Hope Island. The move was announced by Washington state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on March 15th, 2024. Hilary Franz, the Washington Commissioner of Public Lands, announced the dismissal…
State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz announced on Friday, November 18th that commercial net-pen farming of finned fish will end in the waters of Washington state. Of note, net-pen fish farming has been banned in Alaska, Oregon, and California. Canada is calling for companies to phase out the practice…
This month a new bill called the Keep Fin Fish Free Act (H.R. 2467) was introduced in response to the growing concerns regarding aquaculture operations. Alaska Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) introduced legislation that would stop officials from the Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of Commerce from authorizing commercial finfish…
A breach in a net pen was initially blamed on high tides and the eclipse. However, in a revised press release, Cooke Aquaculture no longer listed the eclipse as a possible cause, but rather “Exceptionally high tides and currents caused damage to a salmon farm that has been in operation…
If you happen to be fishing in the south Bellingham Bay area near Cypress Island today, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife would like your help cleaning up a large Atlantic salmon spill. A net pen which held approximately 305,000 Atlantic salmon, broke over the weekend, releasing thousands of…