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BACKSTORY
In 2017, a floating industrial salmon farm in the Northwest’s Puget Sound broke loose, releasing tens of thousands of Atlantic Salmon into the ecosystem. The nonnative salmon, raised in crammed industrial scale fish pens and considered a threat to native Pacific salmon, quickly swam throughout the bay. The Washington Department of Ecology later found that the farm owner, Cooke Aquaculture — the largest privately owned salmon-farming agribusiness in the world — had neglected to take care of its equipment.
To the 5,000 members of the nearby Indigenous Lummi Nation, whose culture and livelihood depends on native Pacific salmon runs, the spill of nonnative fish proved especially dangerous. Inbreeding, disease and predation are the primary threats to native salmon runs, and the tribal government mounted an all-out effort to protect the native fish.
After initially denying responsibility and blaming natural causes, in November 2019, Cooke agreed to pay $2.75 million to fund projects protecting wild fish in the Puget Sound. The Washington state Legislature also passed a law phasing out open-net farming in the state, but remains the only jurisdiction on the West Coast that hasn’t committed to ending the practice in public waters (“How a salmon farm disaster changed Northwest aquaculture forever,” June 2022.)
FOLLOWUP
At the end of June, a Washington state jury awarded the Lummi Nation $595,000 in response to a lawsuit against Cooke Aquaculture over the 2017 fish spill, which the tribe said was caused by the company’s negligence and led to its unjust enrichment. However, the jury declined to award damages on the tribe’s claim of cultural harm.
According to reporting in the La Conner Weekly, James Stroud, Lummi staff attorney, said the tribe was pleased with the outcome, but its victory was tempered by the jury’s decision on its claim of cultural harm. “It seems hard for non-tribal folks to fully appreciate how strong that connection is — the risk posed by this release of an invasive species. How damaging that that risk was. And the way it impacted the Lummi Nation as a whole,” Stroud said.
In a statement, Cooke said it accepts the jury’s decision on damages and will not appeal.
Theo Whitcomb is an editorial intern at High Country News. We welcome reader letters. Email him at theo.whitcomb@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.
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