Puget Sound, Washington State.
Photo: Adobe Stock.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington has formally vacated (set aside as unlawful) a nationwide permit for offshore aquaculture in U.S. waters.
The Nationwide Permit (NWP 56) was issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2021, and authorized the deployment of finfish aquaculture facilities in marine and estuarine waters in 13 U.S. coastal states, including Washington.
The Washington court ruled that the permit was unlawful in October last year, stating that it did not comply with several federal environmental protection laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Rivers and Harbors Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.
The lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers was begun in 2022 by a coalition of plaintiffs, represented by the Center for Food Safety, including Don't Cage Our Oceans, Wild Fish Conservancy, and the Quinault Indian Nation, among others.
In a press release, George Kimbrell, legal director for Center for Food Safety and counsel for the plaintiffs, described the outcome as "a crucial victory in the battle for the future of our oceans", adding, "We are gratified that the Court has ordered that NWP 56 is null and void. Industrial aquaculture has an abysmal track record globally of damaging the environment and local communities. It has no place in U.S. ocean waters."
The case marks one of the latest legal challenges over offshore aquaculture permits in the U.S. In 2018, plaintiffs including fishermen's associations and the Center for Food Safety successfully brought a case against NOAA stating the federal agency did not have the legal authority to regulate offshore aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico, a ruling which was later upheld in 2020 by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
