Oregon’s Seafood Industry is in Jeopardy.

Without intervention, your access to Oregon-caught seafood is threatened as are the economies of our coastal communities.

DEQ has introduced new wastewater discharge permits that are overly-complicated, technically-infeasible, and fail to acknowledge the unique characteristics and dynamic nature of the seafood processing sector. As the permits stand today, the technology simply does not exist for processors to comply.

Despite years of persistent efforts by the seafood industry to engage in productive conversations, DEQ’s responses have remained superficial, devoid of practical solutions. While the industry has invested extensively in independent research, DEQ’s refusal to engage with our technical experts further indicates the agency is rushing to reduce the permit backlog at the expense of quality.