Aquaculture Anxiety

NO ONE EVER THOUGHT they’d be catching Atlantic Salmon in Washington’s Skagit River, famous for its native steelhead. But that’s exactly what happened in fall of 2017, after a saltwater net-pen near Cypress Island collapsed on August 19, releasing more than 200,000 non-native Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound. Outcry from conservation groups, anglers, and several Puget Sound tribes led to swift action, resulting in the Washington State Legislature passing a law that phases out non-native finfish aquaculture by 2022.

Unfortunately, lawmakers whiffed on the chance to create more meaningful protection for native salmon and steelhead by not outlawing open-water finfish aquaculture outright, as Alaska, Oregon, and California have done, and as Canada’s current government has promised to do by 2025. In January, Alaska Rep. Don Young and three co-sponsors introduced the Keep Fin Fish Free Act, which would effectively ban open-water fish farming in U.S waters unless specifically