AquaBounty of Massachusetts has announced that it is on the verge of receiving federal approval to market a quick-growing Atlantic salmon that's been genetically modified by adding a growth gene Pacific Chinook salmon, as well as an “on-switch” gene from ocean pout (a closely related fish) to its roughly 40,000 genes. If approved, this would be the first genetically altered fish to reach the dinner table.
The additional genes are meant to trigger the desire to feed all year long, rather just in the spring and summer so that the new transgenic fish will “grows to market size in about half the time as a normal salmon -- 16 to 18 months rather than three years.” However, they will not grow larger than normal Atlantic salmon.
AquaBounty also stated that despite the modifications, the fish are “identical to regular salmon,” and are safe to eat.
In addition to dietary concerns, fears also persist over how these fish might impact the environment should they escape from their farms. In fact, a computer study conducted by Purdue University showed “that if 60 transgenic fish bred in a population of 60,000 wild fish, the wild fish would be extinct in 40 generations.”
Atlantic salmon currently raised in farms are kept in net pens in coastal waters along Maine, Washington State and British Columbia, from which an estimated “400,000 to 1 million have already escaped from seventy-five pens into the wild.
"We've seen assurances in the past from industry and regulators that there won't be catastrophic consequences like the gulf oil spill," said George Kimbrell, a senior staff attorney for the Center for Food Safety. "We have a cultural amnesia about these things."
In the meantime, The FDA will not comment other than to say that an open hearing on the AquaBounty application will be held sometime early in the fall.
It should also be noted that " nearly half of all fish consumed worldwide are farm-raised," encompassing a $86 billion a year business. In addition, as wild stocks become depleted, and the world's population climbs toward 9 billion additional sources of food will need to be found.
If approved, the Company will expect to begin marketing transgenic salmon eggs (only), within two to three years. They are already working to develop transgenic trout and tilapia as well.
Comments
The problem is one of overpopulation and improper methods of food distribution. Modifying food is not the answer.
“We need biodiversity intensification that works with nature’s nutrient and water cycles, not against them,” says Vandana Shiva. Shiva, the founder of Navdanya, the movement of 500,000 seed keepers and organic farmers in India, argues that GMF’s (genetically modified foods) have not increased yields. Recently Doug Gurian-Sherman, a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit science advocacy group, published a report called “Failure to Yield”, in which he stated that in a nearly 20 year record, genetically engineered crops have not increased yields substantially of food and livestock feed crops in the United States.
This does not even cover the issue of public safety. Europe banned it and so should the FDA.
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