In December 2024 and in the first few days of 2025, nearly 400 advocates took action with us to protect Washington’s waters and pacific salmon from open net pen aquaculture. We’re happy to share that our state’s decision-makers heard the message loud and clear.
On January 6th, Washington’s Board of Natural Resources, a voting body within the Department of Natural Resources, voted to approve a permanent ban on the polluting practice of finfish net pen aquaculture. These operations held fish like Atlantic salmon, and have released diseased fish into the wild, putting native fish in harm’s way more than they already are. The rule comes more than seven years after a net pen array collapsed off the coast of Cypress Island, releasing a quarter-million Atlantic salmon into the waters of the San Juan Islands, exposing local salmon to illness and food competition.
“The crisis of our Puget Sound and salmon and orca populations, calls for avoidance. Avoidance is our legal and moral responsibility. In the last two weeks, Talequah has lost another baby calf. It is a reminder of how fragile life is for our orcas and our salmon. But also how challenging it is for us,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz. “No one can say these facilities don’t have an impact. They do. There’s a cost to our agency, there’s a cost to our waters and our bedlands, there’s a cost to our salmon and our orcas. I don’t believe that cost is worth it. Avoidance is absolutely our best solution.”
The board’s decision comes more than two years after Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz directed staff through a Commissioner’s Order to initiate the rulemaking process. DNR staff then undertook an extensive and thorough review of the science surrounding open sea net pen salmon farming, as well as reviewing impacts from the farms previously on DNR-managed lands.
This rule only applies to commercial net pen fin fish aquaculture and does not apply to hatcheries that restore or boost native stocks.
Tribal fisheries, the commercial fishing industry, and marine animals all rely on native salmon. We’ve long known the pollution and infection risks of farming these fish in the home waters of Pacific salmon, and we’re grateful to this region’s advocates for helping close the book on this practice in Washington waters. The rule had garnered praise from Puget Sound Tribes and conservation groups alike.
We extends huge round of applause to all of our supporters who helped make this final push happen, and to the advocates at other organizations driving the effort.
Please stay connected with us through our monthly E-News and our Action Alerts as the year unfolds. There will be plenty of challenges in the year ahead, but as this BNR rule shows, we have a lot power to when we speak up together for our lands, waters, climate and communities.
Photo: Liam Gallagher / Wild Fish Conservancy