Islands Weekly (December 24, 2024)
14 Jan
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BC is the last place on the Pacific Northwest with open-net pens

Washington State previously garnered international attention for successfully removing all ocean-polluting commercial net pens from Puget Sound. Now, with a new statute permanently banning this industry from ever returning, Washington is the first place in the world to both entirely eliminate open-net pens and permanently ban future operation of commercial net pens in marine waters.

Cooke Aquaculture is the company responsible for the catastrophic Cypress Island open-net pen collapse in 2017, which released over 260,000 nonnative, virus-infected Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound. After responding to the concerns of the public and the well-documented record of ecological harm in 2022, Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz, rejected applications from seafood giant Cooke Aquaculture seeking new leases to continue operating their commercial net pens in Puget Sound.

2024 was the first year in over four decades that Puget Sound was free from the ecological harm and risks associated with industrial open-net pens, including, but not limited to, the discharge of massive amounts of daily untreated pollution, including fecal waste, feed and pharmaceuticals; the amplification and spread of native and exotic viruses and pathogens harmful to native wild fish; bycatch of wild fish during the harvest of farmed fish; and chronic and catastrophic escape events.

Prior to the decision, 10,000 individuals, over 100 businesses and organizations and numerous Washington Tribal Nations urged Commissioner Franz to cease leasing public waters in Puget Sound for this ecologically destructive practice. The rule would also support Washington’s commitment to protect Tribal treaty rights, food security and cultural practices, and does not affect non-commercial tribal operations, including acclimation net pens.

Beyond Washington, the decision sets a powerful precedent and model for coastal communities fighting to eliminate or transition this industry out of home waters. In June, the Government of Canada announced its continued commitment to banning open net-pen salmon aquaculture in coastal BC waters by June 30, 2029. BC is the last remaining jurisdiction on the North Pacific Coast with commercial open-net pens remaining in marine waters.

Read the full article here.