Cooke Aquaculture an ISDS-Enabled Threat to People and Planet

Lookout, Oregon. This story delves in something unacceptable faced by our state neighbors to the north. It could happen here, and it’s bad enough that it happens anywhere.  #EndISDS

ISDS, Investor-State Dispute Settlement, is being used dangerously in Washington state right now. Cooke Aquaculture, a Canadian company, ruined a Puget Sound fishery ecosystem and it got the attention of the state legislature, to point where Washington State is very close to banning the farming of Atlantic salmon in WA state waters. Cooke Aquaculture has publicly and explicitly threatened that if the proposal becomes law, they will undermine it with an ISDS suit under NAFTA.

Yes indeed, this trade-agreement-originated international legal arrangement is for corporations to be able to put a thumb on the scale. Instead, trade policy should be able to lift up and prioritize needs of ecosystems, indigenous communities, and the health and vibrancy of local economies.


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