Several American and Canadian groups expressed strong rejection and concern about FDA's GMO salmon approval. (Photo: Stock File)

Environmentalists worry about GMO salmon approval for human consumption

CANADA
Monday, November 23, 2015, 08:30 (GMT + 9)

The decision taken by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approving genetically modified salmon for human consumption has been decried by Canadian and American environmental and consumer groups of Prince Edward Island (PEI).

“Genetically modified salmon pose huge ecological and economic risks,” claimed representatives of the environmental group Ecology Action Centre, based in Halifax.

This organization explains that the eggs for the salmon, which grow at twice the rate of the regular resource, are produced in a facility in the eastern PEI community of Bay Fortune and exported to Panama, where they're grown in above-ground tanks.

For her part, Sharon Labchuk of the group Islanders Say No to Frankenfish claimed: “PEI has been thrust into a negative spotlight with the FDA's decision.”

"The implications for PEI, we think, are fairly grave. We are at the centre of a global controversy and it's not going to do our reputation any good. We like to get our name out there, but this is not a good way to get our name out there," Labchuk regretted.

Other representatives of this NGO stated their intention to request PEI chefs not to serve or cook GMO salmon in their kitchens.

Meanwhile, Mark Butler, policy director of Ecology Action Centre, denounced the approval happened behind closed doors with no public input.

"I was stunned, both because this was big news and also because it was two days after we were in Federal Court here in Ottawa arguing that the Canadian approval of the export of GM salmon eggs to Panama was unlawful," he stressed.

"It's a world-first and Canadians have not been consulted. We actually hope that the new government is going to take a different approach to this situation," he added.

Representatives of this NGO feel concerned about the "irreversible" environmental risk of genetic contamination of wild Atlantic salmon if this GMO salmon escape from production facilities.

Nevertheless, the FDA explained that an escape is almost impossible because of redundant measures put in place to contain them in tanks. The agency also remarks that because the fish are sterile, they would not be able to breed with wild salmon.

Another NGO expressing its view against GE salmon is Friends of the Earth, who called the move "flawed and irresponsible” and ensured more than 60 grocery chains representing more than 9,000 stores in the US have committed to not selling GE salmon, adding 1.8 million people have sent letters to the FDA opposing the product's approval.

"It's clear that there is no place in the US market for genetically engineered salmon," said Lisa Archer, the organization's food-and-technology programme director. "People don't want to eat it and grocery stores are refusing to sell it."

The organization also wants to see the product labelled as a genetically modified organism although FDA rules state mandatory labelling of AquaBounty salmon is not required because it is not materially different from other Atlantic salmon.

Given all these concerns, Canadian health authorities confirmed they are reviewing the safety of the salmon as a food source.

In the US, Food and Water Watch also panned the approval, saying the decision “disregards AquaBounty’s disastrous environmental record, which greatly raises the stakes for an environmentally damaging escape of GM salmon.”

Related articles:

- Alaska senators decry FDA approval of AquAdvantage salmon
- FDA approves GM salmon for human consumption

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