After more than 40 years of commercial fish farming in its waters, Washington has become the first place worldwide to completely remove and permanently ban commercial finfish net pen aquaculture. On January 7, 2025, the Washington State Board of Natural Resources voted to adopt a rule prohibiting this practice on all state-managed marine waters. The Breaking Point: 2017 Cypress Island Collapse The road to this ban began in August 2017, when a Cooke Aquaculture net pen near Cypress Island failed catastrophically, releasing over 250,000 non-native Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound. “The crisis of our Puget Sound and salmon and orca … Continue reading Washington Bans Commercial Fish Farms After 250,000 Salmon Escape: First Worldwide Complete Ban Takes Effect 2025