The Superior Court of the State of Washington granted the motion filed by Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC (“Cooke”) against the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (“DNR”) and Hilary Franz, the Commissioner of Public Lands, to extend the deadline to April 14, 2023, to safely harvest steelhead trout and remove equipment at the Rich Passage and Hope Island fish farms in Puget Sound.
Cooke operates its farm sites according to carefully coordinated farm management plans, with employee safety being its top priority. Significant changes in harvest schedules can both increase safety risks for employees and disruptions for customers. The arbitrary timelines originally set forth by DNR were impossible to meet without exposing Cooke employees to dangerous winter working conditions, increasing perceived environmental risks, and causing significant financial harm.
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