State Cancels Atlantic Salmon Farm Lease

Aerial images from Air 4 show a broken net pet. Thousands of farmed Atlantic salmon have been pulled from Puget Sound. KOMO file photo.

The state has canceled the lease for a Cypress Island salmon farm where thousands of fish were accidentally released in August.

Hillary Franz, the state lands commissioner, announced on Sunday the termination of the lease for Cooke Aquaculture. It raises Atlantic salmon on the site and leases land from the Department of Natural Resources.

Last week, the state fined Cooke $332,000 for alleged violations of Washington state water quality laws because of the salmon release.

Cooke Aquaculture Pacific failed to adequately clean nets holding farmed salmon, leading to a net pen failure last summer that allowed the fish to swim away into Puget Sound, officials said in a report compiled by the state’s departments of fish and wildlife, ecology and natural resources.

The nets failed because they were excessively laden with mussels and other marine organisms, the report said. That increased the drag on the nets from tidal currents and overwhelming their mooring system, the report said.

On Sunday DNR said in a letter to Cooke that its failure to maintain the facility “in good order and repair, in a clean, attractive, and safe condition” is a clear violation of the lease and the basis for termination, the agency said in a news release.

“Cooke has flagrantly violated the terms of its lease at Cypress Island,” Franz said in the news release. “The company’s reckless disregard endangered the health of our waters and our people, and it will not be tolerated.

“On behalf of all Washingtonians, and in fulfillment of my duty to protect our state’s waters, I am terminating the lease.”