OLYMPIA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Fish farms are a thing of the past and octopus farms don’t have a future in Washington waters.

State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz says Cooke Aquaculture has dropped its appeal of the Department of Natural Resources’ cancelation of its remaining net pen leases. Cooke is the Canadian company that operated a net pen near Cypress Island that failed in 2017 and allowed 300,000 non-native Atlantic salmon to escape.

Franz says that and other issues proved that net pen fish farming cannot be done without harming native salmon populations.

State Representative Strom Peterson said the net pen ban partly inspired his bill to prohibit octopus farming.

“This [legislative] body has done some great work when it comes to dealing with salmon farming, dealing with aquaculture to make sure we’re doing it right to make sure we are not going to ultimately pollute the water we all cherish so deeply,” Rep. Peterson said.

Supporters of the octopus farming ban also noted the species’ intelligence as a reason to not allow them to be farmed.

Gov. Inslee has signed the ban on octopus farms into law.