— by Lynda V. Mapes for the SeattleTimes.com —
Cooke Fish Farms locations and payments from the SeattleTimes.com
Under fire after a collapse and massive escape last summer, Atlantic salmon net-pen farming would be banned in Washington under legislation that will be filed by Sen. Kevin Ranker this coming session.
The legislation would allow existing state leases for the eight Atlantic net-pen farms now operating in Washington to run out by 2025. No permits for new farms would be granted, and no renewals for existing leases would be allowed. The bill also would require state agencies that regulate net-pen farming to keep a tighter watch on operations.
The net-pen escape was a wake-up call, said Ranker, D-Orcas Island. He called the escape of more than 100,000 Atlantics into Puget Sound “a disaster,” yet not even his biggest concern about the industry.
“This has been a long time coming,” Ranker said. “I am more concerned with the day-to-day impact of invasive-species aquaculture of Atlantic salmon than the escape. It woke us up to the fact that there is a big problem here.”
(To read the full story, go to seattletimes.com/state-senator-bill-to-ban-atlantic-salmon-farming/ ).
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Hope this passes. This was never a good plan, given the problems our native salmonids are having.