Tag «atlantic salmon»

Upcoming Victoria SFAB Daytime Meeting Oct 17 10 am – 12:30 pm

Chris Bos, Victoria and Area Committee Chair, Sport Fishing Advisory Board (SFAB), extends an invite to

WHAT: Victoria and Area SFAB Committee Post-Season Meeting
WHEN: Wednesday October 17th – (10:00 AM –  12:30 PM)
WHERE: Esquimalt Anglers Lounge, 1101 Munro Street, Victoria

This meeting is open to the angling community and the public. Please feel free to broadcast this information so the SFAB consults with a wider audience.

Draft agenda for Wednesday’s meeting:

  • 2018 Consultation Timing regarding Salmon Measures (SFAB, IHPC, 25-35% Reduction, SRKW)
  • Post-Season Chinook Salmon Fishing (Angler Observations)
  • 2019 Halibut TAC Expectation and Committee Guidance on Season
  • Southern Resident Killer Whale Measures and JDF and Gulf Islands Closures
  • Commercial Crabbing Concerns
  • 2 x Shellfish Farming Tenure Proposals
  • Enhancement Updates

Cooke Aquaculture fined for Atlantic salmon fish-farm spill

Washington is the lone U.S. west coast state that allows Atlantic salmon net-pen farming in its public waters. California and Alaska ban the practice, while Oregon has no Atlantic salmon net-pen farms. The Seattle Times reported in late January of this year on the result of a review by a panel of experts of the catastrophic net-pen spill of Atlantic salmon at Cooke Aquaculture‘s Cypress Island fish farm. The state’s Department of Ecology fined Cooke $332,000 for violating its water-quality permit before and during the net-pen collapse.

“Our investigative team doggedly pursued the truth,” said Maia Bellon, director of the Washington Department of Ecology. “Cooke Aquaculture was negligent, and Cooke’s negligence led to the net-pen failure. What’s even worse was Cooke knew they had a problem and did not deal with the issue. They could have and should have prevented this.”

Cooke Aquaculture has disputed the state’s methods and findings.

In December of 2017, Washington state Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz terminated the state’s lease with Cooke at another farmed salmon operation in Port Angeles, saying the company violated the terms of the lease. Cooke has challenged that decision in Clallam County Superior Court.

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