Bainbridge Island City Council Resolution Supporting Taking Back Our Sound Restoration Project

On November 27th, the Bainbridge Island City Council passed an official resolution declaring support for the Taking Back Our Sound campaign, a competing proposal to lease all waters in Puget Sound leased and degraded by the net pen industry for over three decades.

A RESOLUTION of the City Council of Bainbridge Island, Washington, hereby declaring the City Council’s support for the Wild Fish Conservancy’s proposal to the Washington Department of Natural Resources to lease aquatic lands in Rich Passage currently leased for commercial marine net pen finfish aquaculture for the purposes of restoring these aquatic lands to their natural state and restoring full access of these aquatic lands for the public’s full benefit, use, and enjoyment.

The resolution urges Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz to deny new leases to Cooke Aquaculture in Rich Passage and to instead lease those same public waters for the Taking Back Our Sound Restoration Project proposal that seeks to eliminate all commercial net pens and the environmental impacts they pose, thereby restoring these industrialized sites and public access to 130 acres of Puget Sound— 54 of which lie in waters surrounding Bainbridge Island.

The Council also encourages all Bainbridge Island residents to sign the Taking Back Our Sound petition to Commissioner Franz which urges the Department of Natural Resources to stop leasing our public waters for net pen aquaculture and to guarantee the public that these waters—currently degraded and restricted for private profit—will be restored and managed for the public’s benefit and use by all citizens.