AquaBounty Technologies GMO AquaAdvantage Salmon – Why GMO Salmon in the Wild will be an Ecological Disaster

These are strange times indeed for GMO!

It's very strange to see the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approve GMO (Generically Modified) Salmon on as noted on Thursday November 19^th 2015 as reported in the article “The FDA just granted approval to a fast-growing genetically modified Salmon species”, published November 20, 2015 Ed Oswald, Digitaltrends.

The approval was handed down for a specific breed of genetically modified Salmon made by AquaBounty Technologies, making them the first to get approval for a GMO as noted in the article “Salmon is first transgenic animal to win US approval for food”, published 19 November 2015 by Heidi Ledford, Nature.

They’d submitted the concept back in 1995 and it has basically been 20 years of deliberations within the FDA before they lived at their decision.

Not only are the Salmon declared safe to eat, but there is apparently no requirement by the FDA for AquaBounty Technologies to label AquaBounty’s Salmon, only that they be kept in inland storage tanks.

AquaBounty Technologies GMO AquaAdvantage Salmon – Why GMO Salmon in the Wild will be an Ecological Disaster

This is because the FDA says no real difference between the GMO Salmon and traditional Salmon, to quote from their website: “Because the data and information evaluated show that AquAdvantage Salmon is not materially different from other Atlantic Salmon, the FDA has determined that no additional labeling of food from AquaAdvantage Salmon is required”.

AquaBounty Technologies states that these GMO Salmon are genetic cross between Atlantic and Chinook breeds. They are also enhanced with growth factors in their genetics and can grow to full size in eighteen (18) months rather than the three (3) years it takes traditional Atlantic Salmon.

AquaBounty Technologies argues that this means that the Salmon are more efficient and thus use less feed to grow, reducing the turnaround time for farmers as well as their carbon footprint.

What worries me and others concerned about GMO's is that these Salmon, if they escape from their inland storage tanks and into the wild, can grow rapidly and outcompete fish in the local ecosystem for food just like the oversized Goldfish in the River of Australia as based on research by Murdoch University as noted in my blog article entitled “Murdoch University says Goldfish Destroy Freshwater Ecosystems - Why Jamaica must avoid Goldfish becoming Kingpins in our Rivers”.

On this basis alone Center for Food Safety director Andrew Kimbrell will be filing a lawsuit against AquaBounty Technologies, quote: “The review process by FDA was inadequate, failed to fully examine the likely impacts of the Salmon’s introduction, and lacked a comprehensive analysis. This decision sets a dangerous precedent, lowering the standards of safety in this country”.

After all, if you cannot tell them apart from real Salmon and they can grow twice as fast, if they escape into the wild, they'd be the equivalent of goldfish competing with local species and driving them to extinction.