OLYMPIA, WA – December 12, 2024 – 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.

“From victories in the legislature to successful legal challenges, the proposed rule is the culmination of nearly a decade of unwavering advocacy by local communities, environmental groups, Tribal Nations, fishers, businesses, elected officials, scientists, and attorneys working in collaboration to protect the health of Puget Sound from the damaging effects of commercial net pens,” said Emma Helverson, Executive Director of Wild Fish Conservancy. “We need your help this one final action to permanently prevent this dangerous and polluting industry from ever returning to our public 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.

The Commissioner’s decision required Cooke Aquaculture to remove all farmed fish and net pen infrastructure. Consequently, 2024 is the first year in over four decades that Puget Sound is free from the ecological harm and risks associated with industrial net pens…