Tag Archives: Commissioner of Public Lands
Washington state poised to set precedent as first government in the world to successfully remove and permanently ban commercial net-pen aquaculture
Washington state recently garnered international attention for its successful removal of all polluting and hazardous commercial net pens from Puget Sound. Now, the state is on the verge of adopting a statute that would prohibit this commercial industry from ever returning to Puget Sound. Washington would be the first place in the world to both entirely remove the existing industry and permanently ban future operation of commercial net pens in marine waters. In 2022, responding to the concerns of the public and the well-documented record of ecological harm, 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. Concurrently, she issued a new executive order prohibiting commercial net pen aquaculture in Washington marine waters. Cooke Aquaculture is the company responsible for the catastrophic Cypress Island net pen collapse in 2017, which released over 260,000 nonnative, virus-infected Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:26
Washington state asks lawmakers for $90 million to improve habitat for orcas, salmon
If approved, a $90 million budget request to the state legislature could aggressively tackle what’s needed to help Puget Sound’s southern resident orcas survive. A request on Monday by Hilary Franz, the state’s Commissioner of Public Lands, would increases the money already being spent on restoring habitats for salmon, removing barriers that inhibit the fish from reaching their spawning ground, researching ocean acidification, and removing rundown vessels on waterways, according to an emailed statement from the state’s Department of Natural Resources. >click to read<
