US state's fish farm ban 'shows blatant disregard' for evidence
Aquaculture alliance says outgoing governor and public lands commissioner forced a rushed decision from board that sets a dangerous precedent for food producers
The Northwest Aquaculture Alliance (NWAA), which represents aquaculture producers and support-related businesses in the Pacific region of North America, has strongly criticised a decision to ban net-pen fish farming in state waters in Washington State.
On Tuesday, the six-person Washington State Board of Natural Resources voted 4-0 with two members abstaining to uphold the proposed ban, although board members said that additional work should continue to examine whether to facilitate fish farming in the future, on land or in Puget Sound.
“At a time when tariffs threaten to raise the prices of imported seafood and the cost of groceries for average Americans remains very high, the Washington State Board of Natural Resources has voted to take away from our citizens an important and affordable source of protein that can be sustainably grown right here in our own waters,” said NWAA president, Jim Parsons.
No evidence for ban
Parsons, the chief executive of Jamestown Seafood operated by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, asserted that the record before the Board did not support the ban.
“In addition to being a blatant disregard for the hundreds of pages of thoughtful testimony from aquaculture experts, civic leaders, respected fisheries scientists, veterinarians, Tribal leaders, and consumers, the January 7 decision sets a dangerous precedent that should serve as a warning to anyone in the business of growing food in this state on leased land - be it producers of shellfish, apple, grapes, or beef - that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) could shutter any business or sector that the Commissioner of Public Lands doesn’t like,” he said.
Parsons added that, at the eleventh hour, the outgoing state governor, Jay Inslee, pushed for the Board to vote for the ban under his watch.
'Rushing the rule-making'
NWAA executive director Jeanne McKnight added that the state’s elected public lands commissioner Hilary Franz, who also serves as Chair of the Board, pushed for the ban to be voted on before her term at the helm of DNR ends at 12:01am on January 15.
“Franz insisted on rushing the rule-making process so that the Board could vote on the proposed ban in its January 7 meeting, largely to appease her supporters - which we view as short-sighted and politically motivated. In doing so, Franz deprived the Board of the ability to thoughtfully deliberate and review the enormous body of peer-reviewed science in the record,” McKnight said, adding that “had they done so, they would not have voted for this unsupportable ban”.
Franz, who has served the maximum two terms as public lands commissioner, is politically ambitious and has made failed attempts to become state governor and a member of Congress. Fish farmers believe her opposition to the sector, which has included non-renewal of leases for fish farms and an executive order banning net pens in state waters, is in part an attempt to win political support and funding from groups opposed to aquaculture.
