on august 19, 2017, a net pen break resulted in the accidental release of hundreds of thousands of farmed non-native atlantic salmon near cypress island, skagit county, washington into the wild. the salmon farm was run by cooke aquaculture pacific, llc. according to the washington state department of natural resources, the inadequate cleaning of biofouling on the net pens containing the farmed salmon was likely the primary cause for the pen break.