January 9, 2023 — A court has ordered Hilary Franz, the Commissioner of Public Lands in Washington State to rein in her “unscientific and politically motivated” push to shut down Cooke Aquaculture’s fish farming operations in Puget Sound.
The Superior Court of the State of Washington granted the motion, which was filed by Cooke, yesterday. The original deadline of Jan. 14 has now been moved to April 2023.
Cooke, which raises native Steelhead trout in partnership with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, sought the preliminary injunction to secure a reasonable period of time to safely harvest the fish, and remove the equipment remaining at the Puget Sound sites.
Franz, in a pre-Christmas move abruptly issued notices to Cooke to stop its operations, and followed it up with an executive order to ban the State’s 40-year tradition of fish farming in Puget Sound.
She also refused to allow Cooke more time to harvest the fish in the pens – representing 2,656,000 meals – and the requested period to shut down the sites safely.