After 3 Decades, Washington State Bans Atlantic Salmon Farms

Enlarge this image toggle caption Robert F. Bukaty/AP Robert F. Bukaty/AP

Atlantic salmon farming has been banned from Washington state waters after Gov. Jay Inslee signed the restrictions on nonnative fish farms into law last week in Olympia.

"These present a risk to our wild salmon runs that we cannot tolerate," Inslee said.

The move comes eight months after an ill-fated fish farm near Anacortes started to come undone in a strong current on an otherwise calm summer day. The floating farm, owned by New Brunswick, Canada-based Cooke Aquaculture, tore apart a month later, letting as many as 250,000 Atlantic salmon escape into Puget Sound.

While lawmakers included a provision stating that the Legislature would research and revisit the issue as new science becomes available, Inslee vetoed that section, bringing what appears to be a decisive end to at least three decades of Atlantic salmon farming in Puget Sound.

Opposition to the farms grew after one of Cooke Aquaculture's three net pens off Cypress Island imploded in August. Fish from another ocean quickly swam north into Canada, south past Tacoma and up several rivers, raising fears among tribes and environmentalists that the invaders could harm the region's struggling runs of wild Pacific salmon.

While officials and early media accounts blamed a solar eclipse for the collapse, state investigators later concluded that the farm's poor condition — corroded and overgrown with tons of mussels and other sea life — made it more vulnerable to the push of tidal currents that arrive like clockwork in Puget Sound.

The state's remaining Atlantic salmon farms, all owned by Cooke, could be gone by 2022, once their existing leases with the Washington Department of Natural Resources expire.

The controversy over these fish might not be over. Earlier this year, Cooke, which raises salmon on three continents, threatened to sue under the North American Free Trade Agreement if Washington officials tried to curtail its operations here.

"Our company and our rural sea farming employees are deeply disappointed by the Governor's decision to ignore the science and sign the bill," Cooke spokesman Joel Richardson wrote in an email after the signing. He said the company was evaluating all available options.

This story comes to us from member station KUOW in Washington state. You can listen to the story and read the original version here.</s>A B.C. First Nation has lost its court bid to prevent the restocking of an open-net salmon farm in its traditional territories off northern Vancouver Island.

The 'Namgis First Nation had asked the Federal Court for an injunction against Marine Harvest that would have blocked the company from transferring up to one million juvenile Atlantic salmon, known as smolts, to its Swanson Island farm.

It also applied for an injunction against the fisheries minister as part of a broader application for a judicial review of federal policy that does not require fish to be tested for piscine reovirus or heart and muscular disease before being transferred to a farm.
• Fish farm ban 'the right move' Indigenous leader says

Justice Michael Manson issued a 41-page decision on Friday agreeing there is a "real and non-speculative likelihood of harm" to the 'Namgis way of life from fish-borne disease — but he rejected an injunction on the transfer of the smolts because of its timing.

He found Marine Harvest had informed the 'Namgis on Dec. 21, 2017, that it intended to restock the Swanson Island farm in early spring.

The application to halt the restocking was not filed until March 9, 2018, "mere days before the transfer was set to begin," Manson wrote. He said the late notice prevented the company from finding room for the smolts in any of its other B.C. fish farms.

Marine Harvest testified that smolts raised at a freshwater facility would be ready for transfer to salt water within a short window and any delay could be deadly, potentially costing the company $2.1 million when loss of the smolts and costs of preparing other pens were tallied.

"Furthermore, the ['Namgis'] delay in bringing this motion has exacerbated this problem, such that this harm can no longer be avoided," said Manson.

Marine Harvest has operated for 28 years in compliance with Fisheries and Oceans Canada requirements for transferring fish, court documents showed, and the ruling also said Marine Harvest has made "good faith" attempts at consultation with the First Nation.

Another hearing must consider the 'Namgis application for the judicial review of federal policy on the testing of Atlantic salmon for diseases that could be passed to Pacific salmon, Manson ruled.

But his decision was critical of Fisheries and Oceans, finding it had failed to consult with the 'Namgis about the policy and has no "supervisory control or objective criteria" regarding tests for disease in fish being transferred to open pens.

"It is my opinion that the underlying application for judicial review should proceed as expeditiously as possible," Manson said.
• B.C. government 'very interested' in moving open-net fish farms onto land, minister says</s>FARMING PIONEER: Joel Salatin says he wants everyone to be able to quit their jobs and live off their farm profits.

FARMING PIONEER: Joel Salatin says he wants everyone to be able to quit their jobs and live off their farm profits.

FROM pastured poultry and pigs to land rehydration and fertility, Joel Salatin will talk about it all when he makes his way to Central Queensland from the US.

Mr Salatin grew up on his property, Polyface Farm, which was purchased by his family in 1961 and has been operating under regenerative farming ever since.

"My dad was a genius, my grandfather was a charter subscriber to Rodale's Organic Gardening and Farming Magazine when it first came out in 1949, so we have a deep family heritage in ecological farming,” he said.

"Being able to walk out my back door each morning knowing that I can participate in land healing and enjoy the abundance the earth desires to give is quite profound.”

Mr Salatin said while the US and Australia were two very different countries, there were similarities in our agriculture.

"Australia as a whole is certainly drier than the US and not nearly as mountainous, and it does not have as much of a diversified landscape,” he said.

"The reason Australia leads the world in ecology gurus is because it's a stressed ecology, but unlike other areas it has enough wealth to do something about it.”

Through the years he's seen an increased interest in farm-fresh meat and eggs for various reasons.

"The desire to opt out of this nutrient-deficient, toxic food is growing. There is also growing interest in food transparency and security,” he said.

"You could call it connecting with our ecological umbilical cord. The opaqueness and ignorance regarding food, including domestic culinary arts, is unsettling to more and more people.

"Another reason is that as wellness issues confront more families, they learn about the diet-health connection and how food differs in freshness, taste and nutrition.”

Mr Salatin said he wants people to be able to earn full-time off their farms.

"I want everyone to be able to quit their town job, be full-time on the farm surrounded by an enthusiastic team, creating a high-production farm that is profitable and pleasurable,” he said.

Mr Salatin will host two two-day masterclasses in Rockhampton and Emerald next month.</s>Justice Manson said Marine Harvest has made “good faith” attempts at consultation with the ‘Namgis.

FACEBOOK PHOTO/Swanson Occupation Members fo the ‘Namgis First Nation pose in front of a sign in Alert Bay in fall of 2017.

‘Namgis First Nation failed to win an injunction that would have blocked the restocking of a Marine Harvest open-net fish farm in its traditional territories off Swanson Island.

Independent biologist Alexandra Morton put out a press release dated March 26, stating, “At 8:00 a.m. this morning Marine Harvest poured the first of 950,000 Atlantic farm salmon into the Swanson Island salmon farm in ‘Namgis territory where members have stood in protest against this happening since August 24. On Friday, the nation lost its injunction to stop this restocking. Restocking will continue over the next week.”

The ‘Namgis had applied for the court injunction against Marine Harvest earlier in the month hoping to block the company from transferring juvenile Atlantic salmon (smolts) to its Swanson Island farm.

They also applied for an injunction against the fisheries minister as part of a broader application for a judicial review of federal policy that does not require fish to be tested for piscine reovirus or heart and muscular disease before being transferred to a farm.

Federal Court Justice Michael Manson said in his decision the company has operated for 28 years in compliance with Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s requirements for transferring fish.

He also said Marine Harvest had no other place to move the smolts, given that the injunction application was filed so close to the late March or early April restocking date.

Manson added Marine Harvest has made “good faith” attempts at consultation with the First Nation.

“Farm fish are killing our salmon, our way of life and there can be no reconciliation with First Nations as long as there are farm salmon in my territory,” said hereditary leader Ernest Alfred via press release.

Alfred, a schoolteacher in Alert Bay, started the occupation and remains at the site, demanding Marine Harvest not restock farms in ‘Namgis territory.

According to Morton’s press release, the Provincial tenure for the Marine Harvest Swanson Island farm expires in June, but Premier John Horgan has not decided whether or not to renew it and the 21 other sites in Broughton Archipelago, representing 1/3 of the industry in BC.

“The Canadian and Provincial governments are allowing a million Atlantic salmon into this small bay in ‘Namgis territory, when Washington State just prohibited the industry,” said Morton via press release, who has published several scientific papers on the spread of piscine reovirus in BC, “I have to do what I can to try to stop this virus from spreading.”

On March 22, 2018, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill into law to phase out Atlantic salmon farms.

Marine Harvest published a press release of its own on its website, stating, “The Court’s Order and Reasons confirm Marine Harvest’s Swanson Island salmon farm has been operating for many years (28) under compliance with Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) requirement for transfers of fish during that period of time. Mr. Justice Manson also noted that ‘Marine Harvest has maintained dialogue with the Applicant…requesting meetings to share data and production plans, stewardship, facility observations and collaborative research.’

Marine Harvest confirmed it will continue to seek engagement with the ‘Namgis First Nation to find collaborative solutions and a pathway forward.
Following a collapse of a farm and a large release of Atlantic salmon into the Pacific, the state of Washington bans the farming of Atlantic salmon in their territorial waters.