Tag Archives: Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz
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
State of Washinton cancels lease at site of salmon net-pen collapse
Washington state officials on Sunday canceled a lease with Cooke Aquaculture Pacific at the site where net pens holding farmed Atlantic salmon collapsed last summer, releasing tens of thousands non-native fish into Puget Sound. The decision comes days after a multi-agency state investigation found the Canada-based company negligent for failing to adequately clean its nets, saying that directly contributed to the net-pen failure in August at the facility. >click to read< 17:54
