The editorial board of the Olympian takes on the fish consumption rate issue yesterday:

The state Department of Health recommends eating two servings of fish per week. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service, the U.S. average fish consumption rate has been slightly declining since 2006, although it remains about 20 percent higher than 1980.

The Department of Ecology must provide a realistic fish consumption estimate. It is obligated to do so, and Gregoire was wrong to intervene. The state needs large employers to keep our economic recovering going, but that does not justify obviously inaccurate fish consumption rates.

With an accurate number, Ecology can work transparently with tribes, conversation groups and business to devise an implementation strategy – perhaps one phased in over many years – that strikes a balanced, middle ground.