Washington State’s Department of Fish and Wildlife says that Cooke Aquaculture crews working with salvage and waste removal contractors have disposed of the final three stock nets from a failed net pen that released some 305,000 Atlantic salmon into waters of the San Juan Islands.
The nets were offloaded directly into waste disposal trucks, covered with a roll-top tarp and taken to a waste transfer station.
The company’s final count on fish removed from the damaged structure was 145,851, including 5,166 fish that were harvested before the major damage occurred on August 20. Cooke crews captured 388 escaped Atlantic salmon using beach seines under an emergency permit issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
State officials said daily water quality sampling showed no irregularities compared with ambient samples taken up and downstream from the site.
Tribal, commercial and recreational harvesters who recapture any Atlantic salmon from the site are being asked to voluntarily report catch numbers and locations online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/salmon/atlantic_catch_map.php
An investigation into the incident is continuing.
The nets were offloaded directly into waste disposal trucks, covered with a roll-top tarp and taken to a waste transfer station.
The company’s final count on fish removed from the damaged structure was 145,851, including 5,166 fish that were harvested before the major damage occurred on August 20. Cooke crews captured 388 escaped Atlantic salmon using beach seines under an emergency permit issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
State officials said daily water quality sampling showed no irregularities compared with ambient samples taken up and downstream from the site.
Tribal, commercial and recreational harvesters who recapture any Atlantic salmon from the site are being asked to voluntarily report catch numbers and locations online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/salmon/atlantic_catch_map.php
An investigation into the incident is continuing.