Posted December 11, 2013
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected
to announce its decision on genetically modified salmon soon, according to Liz
Ruskin of APRN in an article available here.
AquaBounty, a U.S. company, plans to create Atlantic
salmon eggs for fish farms that include a Chinook salmon gene. AquaBounty “hopes to produce fish that grow
to market size in half the time.”
Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) does not support the
company’s plan and has asked FDA to refrain from announcing its decision during
the holiday season. Begich said, “FDA
has never approved anything of this nature, which is basically cloning, and
from that perspective I don’t think they’re prepared to understand the
potential long-term impacts.”
FDA received comments from almost 38,000 people about
AquaBounty’s plan. Most did not favor
the plan, voicing concerns that modified salmon could escape and damage the
state’s wild stocks.
AquaBounty, however, says its “fish will be sterile and
reared inland, in Panama, so they can’t escape and harm natural populations.”
About a year ago, FDA published a draft environmental
assessment and preliminary finding of no significant impact concerning
genetically engineered Atlantic salmon.
The Federal Register notice is available here. Additional information from FDA is available here.
Canada
recently approved AquaBounty’s plan to produce genetically
modified salmon eggs for commercial use at its hatchery on Prince Edward
Island.
For more information on biotechnology, please visit the
National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
