Ronald Stotish, chief executive officer of AquaBounty said in a statement that the GM salmon is a “game changer” that brings healthy, nutritious food to consumers in an environmentally responsible manner without damaging the marine habitat. The particular combination of genetics is created to make the AquaBounty fish grow faster than conventional salmon in order to reach the market sooner.
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The salmon has an added growth hormone from the Pacific Chinook salmon that allows that fish to produce growth hormone all year long. Among them, the fish has to be safe to eat, the changing of its DNA can’t be harmful to the fish, and that it has to actually grow faster, as the company is claiming.
Sharratt says she is also concerned that the FDA didn’t mandate the company to label the product as being genetically modified, since it found there was no material difference between GM salmon and non-GM salmon. The only way to know will be to contact the food manufacturer, look for fish specifically labeled as non-GMO, or shop at a store that has pledged not to carry them. “FDA’s approval of the AquAdvantage Salmon is an important step in this direction”.
Health Canada has also confirmed that the department is reviewing the safety of AquaBounty’s genetically modified salmon as a food source. Officials noted that the agency held meetings, combed through thousands of public comments and conducted scientific and environmental assessments about the AquaBounty fish before finally approving it. Genetically modified plants and animals are controversial among the president’s political base, which was thought critical to his reelection efforts during a low point in the president’s popularity.
There is no evidence that the foods would be unsafe, but for a few people, it’s an ethical issue.
The U.S. now imports more than 95 per cent of the Atlantic salmon it consumes. The tanks that will hold the fish are designed so that salmon and eggs can’t escape into the wild.
The environmental activist group Friends of the Earth said the FDA action would set a precedent for commercializing other biotech animals. “We will continue to work to ensure the market, from grocery retailers to restaurants, continues to listen to majority of consumers that don’t want to eat this poorly studied, unlabeled genetically engineered fish”.
The salmon has also faced opposition in Congress. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, has vehemently opposed the approval, saying the engineered salmon could harm her state’s wild salmon industry.
Under FDA approval, AquaBounty Technologies cannot raise the salmon in the United States; it can only be raised on fish farms in Canada and Panama.
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The water near the facility is too salty for the young fish to survive, the agency noted, and larger, older fish would have to penetrate a series barriers and screens with openings roughly 10 to 100 times narrower than the fish is wide. The fish would be bred to be female and sterile, so if any did escape, they would not be able to breed.
