Washington Cancels Net Pen Salmon Farm Leases
Washington state officials have declined to renew expired leases for two remaining finfish net pens citing the damage done in the Cypress Island net pen collapse of 2017.
The state’s Department of Natural Resources in mid-November informed Cooke Aquaculture, based in Saint John, Canada, that the agency would not renew the two aquaculture facilities leases in Rich Passage off Bainbridge Island and off Hope Island in Skagit Bay.
Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said that the catastrophic event sparked an effort to terminate finfish net pen operations due to lease violations.
“Despite years of litigation – and a company that has fought us every step of the way – we are not able to deny lease renewals for the remaining net pen sites,” Franz said.
The decision will return those w...