By Pepper Fisher

OLYMPIA – Despite what a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources told us earlier this week, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribes hopes of building a new net pen facility in Port Angeles Harbor were dashed today.

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz announced Friday on Bainbridge Island an executive order that would prohibit the practice on state-owned aquatic lands managed by her agency, the DNR. That includes Port Angeles Harbor.

“With pollution, dams, destroyed habitat and warming waters, our marine ecosystems and our native stocks of wild salmon face far too many threats. Through our order today, I’m saying state-owned aquatic lands can no longer be used for net pen farm fishing. Denying requests to re-lease these sites based on previous lease violations does not go far enough to protect our waters. That is why my commissioner’s order directs staff to implement the necessary rules and policies to forever prevent future leases for net pen fish farming in our waters. It is our true intent that Washington’s publicly owned waters will be free from net pen farming forever.”

Commissioner Franz’s order aligns Washington’s net pen policy with policies already in place in Alaska, California, and Oregon.

The order applies only to commercial net pen fin fish aquaculture and does not apply to hatcheries that are restorative or boost native stocks.

DNR’s denial of Cooke Aquaculture’s request to re-lease the two sites they operate in the Puget Sound gives the company until December 14 to finish operations and begin removing its facilities and repairing any environmental damage.

The Jamestown Tribe was hoping to get a new lease from the DNR to raise steelhead in net pens in the harbor in a partnership with Cooke Aquaculture.

Commissioner Franz’s full order is available at https://www.dnr.wa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/em_commissioners_order_net_pens.pdf