Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz has terminated Cooke Aquaculture’s lease to operate Atlantic salmon farms at its Cypress Island site, where a second fish farm is at risk of catastrophic collapse, state inspectors say. In a letter to Cooke managers sent Saturday, Franz said the lease is terminated immediately and the company should wind up its operations and clear out of the site in the San Juan Islands, where one of three pens fell apart last August, releasing more than 260,000 Atlantic salmon in Puget Sound. The termination comes just days after state investigators released a report blaming the net-pen failure on company negligence. The investigators also said the company misled the public and regulators about the scope and causes of the collapse. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times) See also: Mix of net pen bills takes aim at non-native salmon http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/politics/mix-of-net-pen-bills-takes-aim-at-non-native-salmon/ Mark Swanson reports. (Peninsula Daily News)
Filed under: fisheries, Puget Sound | Tagged: Net Pens Aquaculture, Puget Sound |
