Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Chairman Ron Allen says the tribe will be joining efforts to challenge a decision by the State Department of Natural Resources to end steelhead net pen farming in the state. The Cooke Aquaculture company filed an appeal earlier this week on Wednesday in Thurston County Superior Court to overturn DNR’s decision to end net pen farming on state owned aquatic lands, saying the announcement by state Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz violated the company’s due process and was politically motivated. Allen says the Jamestown tribe will be filing its own challenge –  similar to Cooke’s challenge.

He told KSQM shortly after Franz’s announcement last month to shut down the industry her actions were not scientifically sound.

“It’s based on politics and not science. It’s unfortunate that she’s making a decision to terminate an industry that’s been successful for 50 years in Puget Sound.”

He says her decision came even after other agencies concluded net pen farming was safe.  

“In our judgment the state has made a decision that it is an acceptable industry and then NOAA, Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Ecology have all said that it is a safe, environmentally industry.”

Allen told the Peninsula Daily News that Franz did not consult with the tribe before announcing her decision.  He says “There’s a formal process of consulting with the tribe about a decision that would affect our interest, and she knew what our interest was.”  He notes that the tribe entered into a formal agreement with Cooke Aquaculture in 2019 to raise female steelhead trout in a net pen facility in Port Angeles Harbor – a project now with an uncertain future. He says their complaint will be asking for clarification on how the DNR decision impacts their tribal rights.