State Boosts Response To Atlantic Salmon Disaster

SEATTLE, WA - Washington's three major departments dealing with wildlife and the environment have formed a special task force to deal with the spill of some 300,000 Atlantic salmon in the San Juan Islands. The spill was reported last Saturday at a farm operated by Cooke Aquaculture. There are rising concerns over the spill because the non-native Atlantic salmon might wreak havoc on the environment by eating food and spreading diseases.

"The Washington state departments of Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife and Ecology, along with the Office of the Governor and state Emergency Management Division, signed on to a Memorandum of Agreement, standing up an Incident Command structure to respond to the escape of an unknown number of Atlantic salmon from net pens on Cypress Island this past weekend," the agencies said in a joint press release Saturday.

The purpose of the task force is to better "manage the multi-agency response as efficiently as possible and to work with tribes and the company to achieve containment of the Atlantic salmon as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, the state is urging anglers to head to the San Juans to help catch the Atlantic salmon. Cooke Aquaculture is using a special boat to catch the fish and put them back in pens at its Cypress Island facility. The company reported that as many as 80 boats were on scene Friday fishing the waters, plus tribal vessels.

The state has set up a special resource page about the Atlantic salmon crisis, which includes daily updates about recovery efforts from Cooke Aquaculture.

Image via Creative Commons