Puget Sound is the lifeblood of our region. It's where we take our children to play and teach them about the wonders of nature. It's where businesses and families continue Washington’s rich history of nourishing ourselves with Puget Sound's salmon, shellfish, forage fish, rockfish, crabs, shrimp, and prawns. And it's home for our iconic animals like orcas, porpoises, otters, and all five species of salmon. 

Despite our region’s collective reverence for the Sound, its health is deteriorating due to a number of environmental threats. Recognizing the importance of a healthy Sound, federal, tribal, state, and local governments are spending hundreds of millions of dollars every year to protect and recover the Sound. And countless organizations and volunteers are working tirelessly to ensure we have a healthy Puget Sound for ourselves, future generations, and the Sound's rich biodiversity.

With all of the great work being done and the taxpayer money being spent to recover the Sound, the last thing we need is to allow Puget Sound to become a hotbed for the destructive commercial open water net pen industry. We simply cannot afford risking the health of our Sound by putting this invaluable resource in the hands of an international industry with a long history of environmental destruction and misleading the public.  

Puget Sound was once home to some of the greatest Pacific salmon populations in the world. While our salmon are now only a fraction of their historic abundance, these majestic fish are still an ecological cornerstone for Puget Sound and all the salmon-bearing rivers that flow into it. Plus, these Puget Sound salmon fuel a vibrant commercial, tribal, and recreational fishery that generates tens of millions of dollars every year for Washingtonians and creates endless joy and lifelong memories for children and adults alike.

Simply put, commercial open water net pens are bad news for Pacific salmon and don’t belong in Puget Sound. Research throughout the Salish Sea has demonstrated that these net pens are a breeding ground for lethal parasites and viruses that can infect and kill wild salmon. Plus, these net pens are major polluters capable of creating environmental disasters like toxic algae blooms, which are disastrous for fish and shellfish populations.

From Norway to British Columbia to Chile, everywhere open water net pens operate, wild fish populations suffer. With our salmon populations on the brink of collapse, these commercial open water net pens have the potential to be another nail in their coffin.

We cannot afford to let this industry threaten the last vestiges of our wild salmon and harm the countless Washingtonians that rely on our salmon for jobs, sustenance, and recreation.