Atlantic salmonFLICKR, E. PETER STEENSTRA, US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICEUpdate (August 29): Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz, have put a hold on Cooke Aquaculture’s plans to expand its net-pen operations into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, The Seattle Times reports. Already, the escaped Atlantic salmon have spread over a 60-mile area, the newspaper says. Taking matters into their own hands, fishermen of the Lummi Nation snagged more than 200,000 pounds of the fish over the weekend.
A malfunctioning net at a Cooke Aquaculture fish farm near Cypress Island in Washington State resulted in the release of some 305,000 10-pound Atlantic salmon over the weekend, The Seattle Times reports.
“[E]xceptionally high tides and currents coinciding with this week’s solar eclipse” caused the “structural failure” of a net pen, Cooke says in a statement. “It appears that many fish are still contained within the nets. It will not be possible to confirm exact numbers of fish losses until harvesting is completed and an inventory of fish in the pens has been conducted.”
The net that malfunctioned had about 3 million pounds of fish in it, Ron Warren, fish program assistant director for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), tells The Seattle ...
