Letter from WA Department of Natural Resources to Cooke Aquaculture Regarding Net Pen Leases

In August 2021, the Washington Department of Natural Resources delivered a letter to Cooke Aquaculture regarding the agency’s decision making around future leases for the company’s net pen aquaculture operations in Puget Sound. The letter was prompted by applications from Cooke Aquaculture to Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife requesting to transfer fish into two of their existing net pen facilities. In the letter, the agency notifies Cooke Aquaculture that DNR had not yet made a decision about whether or not they will issue new leases to the company when their existing leases expire in 2022 and that Cooke should take this into consideration when deciding whether or not to stock their net pens as the lease will expire before the fish are full grown and ready to be harvested.