On August 19, 2017, a net pen at a salmon farm near Cypress Island, Washington, broke, accidentally releasing into the Pacific Ocean hundreds of thousands of non-native Atlantic salmon. The fish farm was run by Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC.[1] According to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, inadequate cleaning was likely the primary cause for the pen break; the nets were supporting more than six times their own weight in biofouling.[2] Coastal tribes were hired to fish the escaped salmon. Atlantic salmon farming was later banned in Washington state in reaction to the incident.