AquaBounty Technologies, a company based in the US state of Massachusetts, has just announced that it has put about 4.5 tons of genetically modified salmon on sale in Canada. These specimens of common or Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) are the first transgenic animals to be marketed for human consumption, at a price of $ 11.70 per kilo, and their arrival on the markets occurs 28 years after AquaBounty Technologies will begin testing its new food product, amid regulatory hurdles, consumer misgivings and protests from environmental organizations. In fact, the company, which got approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2015, has been on the brink of bankruptcy on several occasions . Canada authorized its production six months after the US.
AquaBounty Technologies salmon incorporates DNA from king salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ), a giant species from the Pacific Ocean, and from the fish Zoarces americanus , genetic contributions that affect growth hormone function . This alteration allows AquAdvantage specimens –that’s their commercial name– to grow at twice the speed : they reach their minimum commercial size in 18 months, instead of the 3 years that it takes for their congeners without modifications. They do not need to be labeled as transgenic, since, in the opinion of the authorities, they are biologically indistinguishable from unmodified fish.
Fears and demands
But the opposition is still very strong between different North American and Canadian groups. For example, the Center for Food Safety group, based in Washington, DF, filed a lawsuit with the FDA last year to reverse its decision . In his opinion, the environmental risks posed by the farming of transgenic salmon have not been taken into account: it is feared that it could escape from fish farms and produce a negative impact on natural ecosystems. Critics point to the possibility of human negligence or a natural disaster like a hurricane, for example.
Faced with these concerns, those responsible for AquaBounty Technologies ensure that their breeding sites, a series of tanks located in Panama, have adequate security measures, including barbed wire and watchdogs with dogs. Furthermore, transgenic specimens are in theory sterile females, although this is not 100% guaranteed.
The North American company intends to expand the production of the AquAdvantage to facilities on the Canadian island of Prince Edward, where local authorities gave the green light last June, and at a fish farm in Albany, in the state of Indiana.
Following its introduction in Canada, the goal is to bring GMO salmon to US markets as well, but tough legal battles and opposition from consumers and distributors are anticipated . Several supermarket chains, such as Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or Safeway, already announced years ago their intention not to sell it when it was available.
Ron Stotish, the CEO of AquaBounty Technologies, believes those fears are unfounded: Being raised in tanks rather than underwater cages, the AquAdvantage is even less at risk of being affected by parasites and pathogens than conventional salmon , among other advantages.
Reference: US firm AquaBounty Technologies says that its transgenic fish has hit the market after a 25-year wait.Nature News doi: 10.1038 / nature.2017.22116.
Photo: a transgenic salmon (twice the size), next to a normal one. Credit: AquaBounty Technologies
