US state of Washington partners with Canadian RAS firm on land-based salmon farming development

Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz signed a partnership agreement with Sustainable Blue to identify opportunities to develop a land-based salmon farm in the U.S. state on 11 April, 2023.

Sustainable Blue operates a zero-discharge, land-based salt-water recirculating aquaculture system in Burlington, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is currently scaling up the facility with the goal of producing 1,000 metric tons of Atlantic salmon annually.

The letter of intent calls for the Washington Department of Natural Resources to provide a parcel on state-managed land that can be used for the development of a land-based salmon farm. Sustainable Blue is charged with evaluating potential sites through a feasibility study. The non-binding agreement between the two parties allows for a subsequent contract negotiation, followed by a public request for bids. If none is received, they may advance to contract negotiations on a draft land lease.

“I’m excited to bring this partnership to Washington,” Franz said in a press release. “This agreement represents an important step toward restoring finfish aquaculture in a sustainable, healthy way that does not pit farmed fish against the native salmon we all work so hard to sustain.”

Franz said the agreement represents “the first step in a long-term partnership to explore multiple facility locations that are not reliant on marine or watershed environments.”

“We know finfish aquaculture can be a great source of food and employment. But we have to balance those benefits with protecting our significant investments in restoring salmon and their habitat,” Franz said. “I’m excited by this opportunity to do both.”

According to KNKX, Franz envisions a Sustainable Blue facility on a parcel somewhere along the I-5 corridor between Seattle and Vancouver, Washington, or in the Tri-cities. She says the agency is already compiling a list of 10 to 20 potential locations in the areas of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland, Washington.

In November 2022, Franz signed an executive order prohibiting any net-pen aquaculture on state-owned aquatic lands, following the 2017 collapse of a net-pen farm operated by Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada-based Cooke Aquaculture that led to the escape of hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon. Cooke has through 14 April to remove its net-pens from the two remaining locations in Puget Sound after their permits were not renewed. Franz said Cooke’s December 2022 lawsuit against the state would not delay the removal date of its net-pens.

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