January 2003

Contact: Doug Williams, (360) 902-2256

New rules governing the marine finfish aquaculture industry in Washington state have been adopted by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.

The rules, which take effect in July 2003, allows Washington's small aquaculture industry to continue operating in state waters while protecting the state's natural resources.

There are eight operating marine aquaculture sites in Washington, all owned by Cypress Island, Inc. The sites, located in Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, currently produce about 12 million pounds of farmed fish, mainly Atlantic salmon, worth an estimated $40 million annually. Washington's aquaculture industry is about one-tenth the size of British Columbia's aquaculture industry.

Several agencies have regulatory authority over the aquaculture industry, including the Washington State departments of Agriculture, Ecology and Natural Resources. Individual counties have regulatory authority to issue shoreline permits to net pen operators.

Aquaculture disease control regulations were developed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife with input from western Washington treaty Indian tribes. The National Marine Fisheries Service can require commercial net pen operators to obtain "take" permits for their operations because of potential impacts on federally-protected salmon species. Finally, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can require net pens to have navigation permits.

Washington's new rules require marine finfish growers to get prior approval of the species, stock and race of marine fish to be grown. The new rules also specifically prohibit growers from using transgenic fish in their operations. "Transgenic" is defined as the actual transfer of genetic material from one species to another.

The rules also include requirements for aquaculture growers to develop escape prevention plans, escape reporting plans and recapture plans. A permit is valid for five years.

Escape Prevention Plan
A fish escape prevention plan must be submitted and approved by WDFW before a marine finfish aquaculture permit can be approved. At a minimum, the plan mustinclude:

• Routine procedures and best management procedures used to minimize the risk of escapement;
• Procedures to minimize escapements in the event the net pens need to be moved or repaired;
• Procedures for training employees and contractors in escape prevention;
• Procedures for routinely determining and tracking the number of fish in each pen lost from predation and mortality, and the number of fish lost to escapement.

Failure to implement the provisions of an approved escape prevention plan can result in the loss of the site's aquaculture permit.

Escape Recapture and Reporting Plans
At a minimum, the escape recapture plan must include:

• Procedures for determining what constitutes a reportable fish escape;
• An emergency contact list in the event of a reportable fish escape from the pens, including local government, WDFW and Washington Department of Ecology;
• Procedures for attempting to recapture escaped fish, including using boats, net and tribal or commercial fishers with commercial fishing gear.

Net pen operators are required to report escapes within 24 hours to local government, WDFW and the Washington Department of Ecology, and must also attempt to recapture escaped fish. The report must include location, number, age class, disease and medication history and the cause of escape. Growers must submit a follow-up report after each escape describing fish recovery efforts and their effectiveness. WDFW can schedule recreational or commercial fisheries to quickly harvest escaped fish.

Growers must also submit to WDFW an annual fish escape report. The report, which is due by the end of February each year, must include:

• A summary of the number, age class, disease and medication history, and the cause of all fish escapes on a month-by-month basis; and
• A summary of all actions growers have taken during the previous year to prevent fish escapes.

WDFW staff will conduct at least annual inspections of all marine finfish aquaculture facilities in the state. Contingent on funding, WDFW will implement an Atlantic salmon watch program, including hiring a coordinator whose responsibilities will include developing and maintaining a system to record and report observations and catch of Atlantic salmon in state waters and monitoring selected watersheds to detect spawning Atlantic salmon.

Numerous attempts have been made historically to introduce anadromous Atlantic salmon to the Pacific Northwest. The last attempt occurred in 1981, when juvenile hatchery Atlantic salmon were intentionally released. No adult fish returned as a result of the releases.

While there is documented evidence of Atlantic salmon aquaculture escapees successfully reproducing in three British Columbia rivers, no evidence exists that naturally spawned juvenile Atlantic salmon have grown and reproduced in Washington.

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