GOOOD MEN PROJECT • February 5, 2025
This month Washington became the last state on the U.S. West Coast to reject salmon aquaculture over environmental concerns. A new lawsuit now takes aim at operations on the country’s East Coast — the only commercial netpen salmon farms left in the country. On Jan. 14, the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) filed a lawsuit against Cooke Aquaculture, the owner of more than a dozen salmon farms in the northeastern state of Maine, under the U.S. Clean Water Act. The lawsuit alleges a pattern of illegal discharges from the farms that create “toxic” marine conditions. CLF seeks to force Cooke to hire more staff for monitoring and inspection of the marine environment. Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, another trade association, defended Cooke and criticized CLF, implying that the nonprofit was made up of “ambulance-chasing lawyers.”