Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, who heads the state's Department of Natural Resources, plans to join a discussion with Indigenous and coastal community representatives from the Pacific Northwest to explore "seafood solutions" later this month.
After releasing an executive order to ban all commercial finfish netpen aquaculture in state-owned waters, Franz last year canceled two leases for netpen salmon farms operated in the state by Canada-based seafood conglomerate Cooke. These were the last two netpen sites still operating in the state.
