Canadian seafood giant Cooke Inc. said Thursday it will drop efforts to appeal a decision by Washington state regulators revoking two steelhead trout farming leases.
Cooke subsidiary Cooke Aquaculture Pacific filed a lawsuit against the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in November 2022 after the agency refused to renew licenses for the company's steelhead farms in Hope Islands and Rich Passage. The move effectively ended the company's netpen salmon farming operations in the state.
Cooke alleged in its lawsuit the DNR's decision was "arbitrary" and did not offer enough time for the company to harvest fish and safely disassemble and remove equipment.
