Washington state Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill Thursday that will phase out all Atlantic salmon farms in the state. The bill means Canada-based Cooke Aquaculture, the only non-native salmon farmer in the state, will no longer have operations in Washington once its leases are up in 2025.
"This bill will phase out non-native marine net pens in Puget Sound. "These present a risk to our wild salmon runs that we cannot tolerate," he said.
Inslee signed the controversial legislation Thursday in Olympia. He also vetoed a section of the bill that said the legislature would have permitted the state to further study non-native aquaculture's potential in the state.
Inslee said he fundamentally disagreed with a section of the bill that stated the legislature would "revisit the issue of marine finfish aquaculture once additional research becomes available."
(See Gov. Inslee sign the bill around 39 minutes in.)
Cooke Aquaculture failed to prevent the bill from reaching the governor's desk earlier this month, when the measure made its way through the state legislature. The Washington Fish Growers Association also asked the governor to veto the legislation.
Linda Chaves, a retired senior advisor on seafood and industry issues and National Aquaculture Coordinator for NOAA, told IntraFish Wednesday she joined scientists in a brief meeting with the governor's staff to ask that its implementation be delayed.
"The concern is all of the science has not been taken into consideration," she said.
Chaves and the fisheries scientists wrote an open letter to the state legislature in February, stating the ban comes without "understanding ramifications of such an action or reviewing the overwhelming body of peer-reviewed science that exists" on the subject.
Cooke Aquaculture Pacific said it was disappointed with the Governor's decision, but respected the wishes of the state legislature.
"Our employees remain our top priority, and Cooke Aquaculture Pacific will continue to take the time we need to fully evaluate our operations and investments in Washington and explore all our available options," said Joel Richardson, vice president of public relations with Cooke Aquaculture Pacific. “We will also continue to work with tribal, state and community partners."
Longtime anti-tax initiative activist Tim Eyman filed photocopies of the bill with the Washington Secretary of State's office that could put the question to the state's voters if he is able to gather the signatures of at least 129,822 registered voters, the Seattle Timesreports.
