A Washington state supreme court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit by the Wild Fish Conservancy and other environmental groups challenging Cooke Aquaculture's ability to switch its permits from Atlantic salmon to allow it to farm steelhead trout.

The case was a challenge to a specific permit issued to Cooke by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) that would allow the company to farm all-female, sterile steelhead trout in existing marine aquaculture netpen facilities it used to raise Atlantic salmon.