Sorry, Phil

The state Department of Ecology owes former Jefferson County Commissioner Phil Johnson an apology.

After more than 300,000 farmed Atlantic salmon escaped from net pens off Cypress Island at the Cooke Aquaculture Pacific facility on Aug. 19, Gov. Jay Inslee and Hilary Franz, commissioner of public lands, last week issued a moratorium on new fish-farm permits in Washington.

The Seattle Times reports that Washington has the largest open-water salmon-farming industry in the nation, while Alaska and California ban them, and they do not exist in Oregon.

Former Commissioner Johnson, a retired commercial fisherman, fought a four-year battle against Ecology regulations that required – yes, required – Jefferson County to allow net pens in its waters.

Johnson argued that antibiotics and fertilizer used on the fish, as well as potential parasites and genetically modified organisms, could impact the waters of Jefferson County. And what if that species got loose in local waters? Johnson asked.

Ecology didn’t listen.

Jefferson County’s Shoreline Master Program was initially written to exclude net pens. When the state told the county to align its shoreline policy to be in sync with state policies, the county tried to figure a way around those rules.

The Leader noted in a 2013 editorial that if the county didn’t capitulate to the state over the issue, then the county would in effect be handing “shoreline regulatory authority over to Olympia. Yech.”

A matter of two months later, county commissioners approved a shoreline plan, two years after a state deadline to do so. Johnson reluctantly went along with commissioners David Sullivan and John Austin in approving it unanimously. He admitted even on that day that he was “worried” about net pens.

The last iteration of the shoreline plan did prohibit net pens in Discovery Bay, in south Port Townsend Bay, Hood Canal, and Smith and Minor Islands Aquatic Reserve. But as it sits today, net pens are allowed in Glen Cove, Mats Mats and near Port Ludlow, as well as parts of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

It is true that there are many restrictions to fish farming contained in the county’s current Shoreline Master Program.

Four years ago, The Leader thanked Johnson for his good fight and urged him to move on, suggesting that the net pen industry hadn’t shown interest in Jefferson County in 20 years and probably wouldn’t ever show interest, with all the regulations in place.

It made sense at the time to move on. But in hindsight, Johnson was right. And it isn’t just about Jefferson County. It is about all state waters that are home to native species of salmon, which we, the people of Washington, are trying to protect.

Sorry, Phil. You were right.

– Allison Arthur