ASSESSING THE RISK OF ENVIRONMENTAL HARM FROM AQUACULTURE ESCAPES: A STATE OF SCIENCE ASSESSMENT FOR ATLANTIC SALMON Salmo salar IN PUGET SOUND

Jennica Hawkins* and James A. Morris, Jr.
 
*JHT Inc., Affiliate of NOAA
NOAA National Ocean Service
National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
Marine Spatial Ecology Division
101 Pivers Island Road
Beaufort, North Carolina 28516  
jennica.hawkins@noaa.gov
 

The potential for fish to escape from offshore net pens has been realized in virtually every location that they occur. The effects of escapes may be immediate, long-term or virtually non-existent, and will vary based on the species of fish, the number of fish released, fish size and condition, periodicity, geography, the health of native fish populations, and a host of other factors. Competition for feed and habitat resources, predation, pathogen transmission, and spawning disruption are potential ways that escapees can negatively impact wild fish.  It has been proposed that when Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) escape from net pens in the Pacific Northwest they exert additional stress onto already threatened and endangered native salmonids. Negative effects on predatory marine mammals have also been suggested.  

By integrating information from peer-reviewed research and experiences from a recent escape event, we evaluated the state of science on the potential for escaped Atlantic Salmon to cause environmental harm in the Puget Sound.  This assessment is being used to inform regulators, industry, and environmental non-governmental organizations as they work together to determine sustainable management approaches for net-pen aquaculture in Washington State.