Washington Bans Open Sea Net Pen Salmon Farms

The Washington State Board of Natural Resources has adopted a rule prohibiting commercial finfish net pen aquaculture on state-owned aquatic lands.

The action comes more than seven years after the collapse of a net pen array off Cypress Island released over 250,000 Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound.

“The crisis of our Puget Sound and salmon and orca populations calls for avoidance,” Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz said. “Avoidance is our legal and moral responsibility.”

Franz noted that the famed orca Tahlequah, who captured hearts worldwide in 2018 when she carried her dead calf for 17 days and over 1,000 miles, displayed a similar act of mourning in January 2025, carrying a baby calf birthed on Christmas Eve. The Seattle Times reported that the calf was confirmed dead on New Year’s Eve.

“Tahlequah has lost another baby calf,” Franz said. “It is a reminder of how fragile life is for our orcas and our salmon. But also how challenging it is for us.”

Franz spoke of the cost of such net pen facilities to the salmon and the orcas.

“I don’t believe that cost is worth it,” she said. “Avoidance is absolutely our best solution.”

The rule applies only to commercial net pen fin fish aquaculture and not to hatcheries that restore or boost native stocks.

Commercial finfish farming operated in marine net pens in Puget Sound for over 40 years on aquatic lands leased from the state’s Department of Natural Resources. After identifying several violations of those leases, Franz terminated the last leases for finfish net pen facilities in November 2022.

The last net pens were removed in the spring of 2023.

Source: https://fishermensnews.com/washington-bans-open-sea-net-pen-salmon-farms/