A Critical Action to Finalize the Net Pen Ban in Washington State Waters
Citizen protest led by Our Sound, Our Salmon (an initiative of the Wild Fish Conservancy) that kicked off the public outcry and the Department of Natural Resources’ ultimate response. (© Wild Fish Conservancy)
In November 2022, Commissioner Franz announced a new executive order prohibiting commercial net pen aquaculture on state aquatic lands of Washington state. The current order/ban is only valid while Franz is in office. She leaves in January, and there is no guarantee the next commissioner will hold the line. The public is still VERY much in favor of the ban on net pens on public lands, and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has persevered in the fierce legal battles voiding and not renewing their leases—but the corporate politics have been fierce. There is a rule-making process to codify the ban into permanent state law. It’s a three-step process. Commissioner Franz and DNR have initiated this rulemaking process to adopt this order formally into statute.
The rule-making process is two-thirds complete. The Board of Natural Resources (BNR) will make a final decision at the January 7th, 2025 meeting in Olympia. We know Cooke Aquaculture and allies will be packing the room, so we need as many people present as possible with this urgent decision on the line to show the broad public support for banning this industry permanently.
It seems the topic has all but vanished from the media—likely due in part to the heavy misinformation campaigns that have been swirling as of late (our two cents on that is below). We need to buck this trend and get this word out.
In addition to attending the 7 January 2025 meeting, there is also an UPDATED ACTION ALERT to send emails and letters to all of the individual Board Members of the Board of Natural Resources, as well as Governor Inslee who has a representative on that Board (Jim Cahill). Folks can take action via the ‘Our Sound, Our Salmon’ action alert below:
Action Alert: We Need Your Help to Uphold Washington’s Historic Ban of Industrial Net Pen Aquaculture in Puget Sound
This rule is the culmination of the public’s efforts, and this rule must be successful to ensure the net pen industry can never return to Washington’s waters. Particularly in these anxious and concerning times for the conservation community, this is an opportunity to make a change in Washington that will benefit our region far into the future and provide a model for communities around the world working toward the same goal.
Photo of the Cypress Island netpen catastrophic failure that released over 300,000 disease-ridden non-native salmon into Puget Sound on 19 August 2017. (Photo © Wild Steelhead Coalition)
And finally, to the ‘new science’ issue. From the Coastal Watershed Institute’s perspective, there has been a group of industry-affiliated folks recently spreading misinformation about ‘new science supporting in water net pens.’ This is politically driven *folly.* Here are links to three of the latest REAL science news—including the first one, which is literally published in the journal Science.
- Science, “Pathogens from salmon aquaculture in relation to conservation of wild Pacific salmon in Canada”
- TechnologyNetworks, “Salmon Farms Are Depriving Local Communities of Their Catch”
- IntraFish, “The critics are right: it’s time to ‘close down’ salmon farms”
Bottom line? In water net pens are devastating to wild salmon, and it doesn’t matter the species. It’s critical to keep these disease factories OUT of Washington waters. Be sure to make this point in your letter/email, and if at all possible do attend the 7 January meeting. It matters.
Dr. Shaffer is the Executive Director and Lead Scientist of the Coastal Watershed Institute (CWI), a small, place-based environmental non-profit formed in 1996 that is dedicated to understanding, protecting, and restoring coastal ecosystems thru community-led scientific partnerships. Shaffer and her team conduct world-class ecosystem science and restoration with very modest resources and from a remote base of operations.
Dr. Shaffer and the talented team she leads at CWI are now informing dam removals planning and actions worldwide. Dr. Shaffer has authored over twenty scientific publications on nearshore ecology and dam removal science and regularly presents her scientific work internationally. Her work is featured in Hakai Magazine, National Geographic, New Yorker Magazine, Al Jazeera, PBS (Earth works), and National Public Radio. Dr. Shaffer and her team have received conservation science awards from the Seattle Aquarium, American Fisheries Society, and Society of Ecological Restoration for work on coastal ecosystem science, conservation, and restoration, including the Elwha.
Dr. Shaffer was born and raised in a large family and a small town of eastern Washington struggling to overcome the ravages of WWII. The solitude of wild intact remote coastal shorelines of northwest Washington provided rare moments of peace and healing and instilled a fierce dedication to conserving and restoring wild places. After their first round of graduate school Shaffer and her husband Dave Parks moved to the Olympic Peninsula where they raised two children. Dr. Shaffer then returned to school and earned a PhD in Marine Science from the University of Victoria in 2017. She and her family continue to thrive in their dedication to fight for what matters. Their future focus is to instill a passion in the next generation to do the same.
More information on Dr. Shaffer and her work with the Coastal Watershed Institute can be found at www.coastalwatershedinstitute.org.