To Net-Pen or Not to Net-Pen? Debates Over Industry Termination in Washington State
By Claire Farber, Environmental Studies ‘26
Off-shore aquaculture net pen (Image credit: NOAA).
On January 7th, 2025, the Washington Board of Natural Resources voted to eliminate net-pen aquaculture in state marine waters, closing a chapter of fishing industry history. Net-pen aquaculture, also referred to as cage culture, encloses a singular aquatic species for commercial production. Marine monoculture such as this has always been a controversial topic: although the practice raises several environmental concerns, the U.S. aquaculture industry produces 20% of the country’s total seafood and rakes in an estimated annual revenue of $4 billion.
Washington is no stranger to the aquaculture industry’s economic influence, with a 1999 report finding that the state’s salmon net-pens alone raked in over $40 million per fiscal year. The state’s history of revenue from net-penning acts as the primary argument for those opposed to the ban. Spearheading this position is Cooke Aquaculture, a company most notorious for a net-pen collapse in 2017, which released an estimated 263,000 non-native Atlantic Salmon into the water surrounding the San Juan Islands. The incident was the catalyst for both House Bill 2957–which phased out Atlantic salmon marine net pens–and a DNR executive policy that officially declared an end to leases for commercial finfish net-pens, resulting in a mass infrastructure vacancy in 2022.
Although Cooke Aquaculture’s hopes of commercial production had been dashed, the motion did not entirely outlaw the practice. Cooke was still able to set its sights on acquiring a permit for farming steelhead and black cod in a joint venture with the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, but was rejected by the DNR. The Jamestown S’Klallam are strongly opposed to the net-pen ban, as the creation of an aquaculture industry in off-shore waters (Port Angeles Harbor and the Strait of Juan de Fuca) would provide tribal jobs and increase local marine catch. Tribal chairman Ron Allen emphasized the necessity of net-penning, citing both tribal economy and food access, as depressed fish stocks in the Puget Sound yielded extremely low rates of tribal catch.
The Jamestown S'Klallam tribe’s push for net-pen aquaculture is in stark contrast to other Indigenous nations in Washington state. The Swinomish, Suquamish, Lummi Nation, and Lower Elwha have publicly supported the ban, joining unions of environmentalists and citizens expressing ecological concern. If escaped, farmed fish pose significant threats to the wild population, including carrying pathogens, interbreeding, and resource competition. Therefore, the implementation of net-pen aquaculture runs the risk of further depleting an already threatened population, further harming local economies and food systems.
Implementing a net-pen ban was one of the final political acts of Hilary Franz, State Commissioner of Public Lands from 2017–2025. The newly elected commissioner, Dave Upthegrove, has announced no desire to revisit the ban. Upthegrove’s statement cements that the industry truly has no future in Washington state, regardless of its proposed economic benefits for the Jamestown S’Klallam, the state GDP, or the ever-controversial Cooke Aquaculture.