(The Center Square) – Cooke Aquaculture on Wednesday morning filed a complaint in Washington State Superior Court to appeal the state’s decision to deny renewal of the Canada-based company’s fish farming permits for its Hope Island and Rich Passage farms.
In the 42-page complaint, Cooke also seeks a preliminary injunction to secure a reasonable period of time to safely harvest the 300,000 fish in the farms and remove the equipment at the sites.
The complaint is in response to the Nov. 14 announcement by the state that the last two remaining Puget Sound fish farming leases, held by Cooke, would not be renewed. Four days later, state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz announced by executive order an end to net pen fish farming in state waters managed by the Department of Natural Resources.
The state regards commercial fish farming as a danger to the aquatic ecosystem in that feeding fish in concentrated areas releases nutrients and organic matter that can contribute to algae production. In addition, fish feces can degrade the ocean floor.
“Commercial finfish farming is detrimental to salmon, orcas and marine habitat,” Franz said in a statement announcing the ban. “I’m proud to stand with the rest of the west coast today by saying our waters are far too important to risk for fish farming profits.”
Cooke had operated all Washington’s net pen fish farming operations since 2016. The company had been cited for lease and safety violations, according to DNR statements.
In 2017, the company’s Cypress Island net pen facility collapsed, which resulted in some 250,000 salmon escaping into the bay, according to a DNR statement. The Legislature subsequently prohibited nonnative finfish aquaculture, and Cooke switched to raising steelhead trout.
“The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (‘DNR’), ignoring science and the need for fresh, locally produced seafood, has engaged in a multi-year and multi-dimensional effort to run one of its tenants out of business,” the complaint alleges in its introduction. “Rather than acting as a rational landlord and a steward of state lands, DNR has cast aside 40 years of fish farming in Washington and well-paid jobs for political favor with certain stakeholders. Such an action is perplexing at best, punitive at worst, and is contrary to science and the direction the Washington State Legislature has given DNR in how to properly manage state lands.”
The lease application denials, according to the complaint, were the culmination of Franz’s five-year war against Cooke.
“However, after the collapse of a salmon farm near Cypress Island, DNR chose to trade these farms for political favor with certain activist stakeholders and tribes in Washington,” the complaint states. “In the words of Hilary Franz, the Commissioner of Public Lands, as she stated to her Chief of Staff in 2018, DNR set out to ‘bury’ Cooke by engaging in a multi-year politically motivated quest to punish Cooke for the collapse of that salmon farm. These words, which were said in private but have since been revealed in litigation, show the true punitive intent of the Commissioner of Public Lands in how she has managed and viewed Cooke’s leases in Washington.”
The complaint goes on to say that on Nov. 23, DNR declined Cooke’s request for a reasonable amount of time to harvest fish and remove equipment from the water.
“DNR arbitrarily agreed to give Cooke 31 additional days to harvest the fish at Clam Bay and Hope Island and also directed Cooke to remove all the equipment at Rich Passage and Hope Island by April 14, 2023,” the complaint says. “Cooke has repeatedly explained to DNR why these deadlines pose safety risks to its workers, risks to the environment, and risk of financial loss in the form of destroyed crops. DNR has repeatedly and arbitrarily ignored these explanations.”
As a result, Cooke is seeking preliminary injunctive relief to allow reasonable time to safely harvest fish from Hope Island and Rich Passage, as well as remove farming equipment during its pending appeal.
Lawrence Wilson contributed to this report.
