Washington State’s fish farm ban “has no legal effect”

The ruling was made after the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance’s (NWAA) filed a complaint against the DNR,

According to NWAA, the decision essentially declares that the “ban” on commercial net pens that Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz touted in her press conference on 18 November 2022 has no legal effect in Washington.

NWAA has issued the following statement today: “Last Friday, October 20, we got confirmation from Thurston County Superior Court that fish farming in commercial net pens is not illegal in Washington, contrary to the inflammatory public statements made by the Commissioner of Public Lands during her November 18, 2022, press conference, where she announced that ‘Washington’s public aquatic lands will no longer be home to commercial finfish net pen aquaculture,’” said Jeanne McKnight, NWAA executive director...
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