Cooke makes a fish farming comeback in Washington waters
Northwest
Aquaculture Alliance says Liberal political policy in Canada on banning
open-net fish farms in B.C. is a “cheap ploy to gain votes”
By SeaWestNews
Canada-based Cooke Aquaculture has been
given a five-year permit to grow trout in open-net farms in Washington’s waters
as the negative fallout from a Liberal political policy in Canada to ban ocean
based fish farms in B.C. grows.
The Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife (WDFW) proposal to issue a five-year Marine Aquaculture Permit to
Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC to grow rainbow trout (steelhead) in its
existing commercial marine net pens in Puget Sound, gives fish farmers a
much-needed certainty to continue operating in the state, said an industry
association.
Cooke plans to partner with the Jamestown
S’Klallam Tribe to raise species in Port Angeles Harbor, once the aquatic farm
lease in Port Angeles is reinstated, according to a press release issued by the
Tribe on October 3.
Cooke’s plan to use “mono-sex and sterile”
rainbow trout, which are native to Washington, will “significantly reduce
potential genetic integration with natural population,” said WDWF.
The WDFW will not require Cooke to produce
an environmental impact statement because the new farms “will likely not have a
significant adverse impact on the environment.” According to Cooke, no
modifications will be needed to transition the sites from salmon farms to trout
farms.
Cooke plans to procure eggs from
Washington-based company Troutlodge, which has been selling rainbow trout eggs
for over 70 years, reported seafoodsource.com.
Washington lawmakers voted to phase out and
ban non-native finfish net-pen farming in the state following the 2017 collapse
of a Cooke Atlantic salmon farm.
Jeanne McKnight, the executive director of
the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance, a trade group representing the Pacific
Northwest’s aquaculture sector, praised Washington’s move to allow Cooke to
shift its production to rainbow trout.
“We commend the state, particularly
WDFW, for ‘going the extra mile’ to ensure fairness in making this important
decision,” she said.
“We are grateful that science has won
the day over politics, and we are delighted that Cooke will be able to continue
producing sustainable seafood in Washington state, particularly in areas where
family-wage jobs are desperately needed.”
“The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is known for
being progressive and forward-thinking in its approach to resource management
and economic development,” Cooke Inc. CEO Glenn Cooke, the owner of Cooke
Aquaculture Pacific, said in a news release.
“We
look forward to working together to produce top quality seafood for consumers
in Washington and across the U.S.”
The move to reinstate Cooke’s aquaculture
permits in Washington State comes as the desperate Trudeau-led Liberals
announced an election platform pledge to move all ocean-based open-net farms to
closed containment on land by 2025.
The industry and aquaculture scientists
have labelled the pledge as “nonsensical” and “unsustainable” because technology
does not exist on a scale to move all ocean-based farms in B.C. to land by
2025.
They have described the political pledge as
a betrayal of the government’s commitment for a science-based approach to
aquaculture that will support a healthy ocean, good jobs, and economic
prosperity on our coasts.
McKnight from the Northwest Aquaculture
Alliance said: “Those of us who have worked in salmon farming since the early
days know that this (Canadian) attack on net pens is a cheap ploy to gain
votes, and we know that water farmers need a healthy aquatic environment in
which to operate.
“As we learned in Washington state, when
science takes a back seat to politics, there are few ‘winners’…It makes no
sense, not even political sense, really, to mandate one form of farming over
another,” said McKnight.
“Who loses? Consumers, who need seafood
they can afford; people who live in rural areas where jobs are scarce and who
need to obtain family-wage employment; and all the support businesses that
supply the sector with real solutions,” she said.
“Aquaculture currently provides more than half of the seafood consumed worldwide – and that percentage is increasing as global demand for seafood continues to rise and wild fisheries are fully exploited. Not only does aquaculture produce much-needed heart-healthy protein, but it also makes seafood affordable for people who may not be able to purchase it otherwise.”
McKnight noted that technological advances
have made aquaculture one of the most sustainable food growing methods,
offering a low carbon footprint and better feed conversion ratios than any
other land-based proteins.
“We believe the time has come to
embrace fish farming as a way to grow food, create jobs, and add to the economy
of the region,” she added.
Cooke currently raises 800,000 Atlantic salmon
in Washington with 60 full-time employees and operations that support hundreds
more indirectly through its local vendor supply chain and processing.
John Paul Fraser, the executive director of
the BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA) said the the Liberal Party’s aquaculture platform
commitment to transition from open net pen salmon farming to closed containment
systems by 2025 is destructive, careless, and flies in the face of making
decisions about aquaculture based on science and facts.
“At a time when leaders should be focusing
on climate change and climate action, the Liberal Party is looking to shut down
the seafood farming method with the lowest carbon footprint and suggesting it
transition to a technology that depends on manufactured energy,” he said.
“This move would have significant environmental repercussions…it would also have economic repercussions for the families of 7,000 middle-class workers in B.C, negatively impacting the health and wellness of coastal communities,”.
Farm-raised salmon is B.C.’s highest valued seafood product, the province’s top agricultural export, and generates over $1.5-billion towards the B.C. economy. (image courtesy of Cooke Seafood)