December 14, 2022 — Cooke Aquaculture on Wednesday morning filed a complaint in Washington State Superior Court to appeal the state’s decision to deny renewal of the Canada-based company’s fish farming permits for its Hope Island and Rich Passage farms.
In the 42-page complaint, Cooke also seeks a preliminary injunction to secure a reasonable period of time to safely harvest the 300,000 fish in the farms and remove the equipment at the sites.
The complaint is in response to the Nov. 14 announcement by the state that the last two remaining Puget Sound fish farming leases, held by Cooke, would not be renewed. Four days later, state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz announced by executive order an end to net pen fish farming in state waters managed by the Department of Natural Resources.