FDA says fast-growing salmon would not harm nature
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health regulators say a genetically engineered salmon that grows twice as fast as normal is unlikely to harm the environment, clearing the way for the first approval of a genetically engineered animal for human consumption.
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday released its environmental assessment of the AquaAdvantage salmon, a faster-growing fish which has been subject to a contentious, yearslong debate at the agency. The document concludes that the fish "will not have any significant impacts on the quality of the human environment of the United States." Regulators also said that the fish is unlikely to harm populations of natural salmon, a key concern for environmental activists.
The FDA will take comments from the public on its report for 60 days before making it final.
The FDA said more than two years ago that the fish appears to be safe to eat, but the agency had taken no public action since then. Executives for the company behind the fish, Maynard, Mass.-based Aquabounty, speculated that the government was delaying action on their application due to push-back from groups who oppose genetically modified food animals.
Experts view the release of the environmental report as the final step before approval.
If FDA regulators clear the salmon, as expected, it would be the first scientifically altered animal approved for food anywhere in the world.
Critics call the modified salmon a "frankenfish." They worry that it could cause human allergies and the eventual decimation of the natural salmon population if it escapes and breeds in the wild.
AquaBounty has maintained that the fish is safe and that there are several safeguards against environmental problems. The fish would be bred female and sterile, though a very small percentage might still be able to breed. The company said the potential for escape is low. The FDA backed these assertions in documents released in 2010.
Since its founding in 1991, Aquabounty has burned through more than $67 million developing the fast-growing fish. According to its midyear financial report, the company had less than $1.5 million in cash and stock left. It has no other products in development.
The AquaAdvantage salmon has an added growth hormone from the Pacific Chinook salmon that allows the fish to produce growth hormone all year long. The engineers were able to keep the hormone active by using another gene from an eel-like fish called an ocean pout that acts like an "on" switch for the hormone. Typical Atlantic salmon produce the growth hormone for only part of the year.
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday released its environmental assessment of the AquaAdvantage salmon, a faster-growing fish which has been subject to a contentious, yearslong debate at the agency. The document concludes that the fish "will not have any significant impacts on the quality of the human environment of the United States." Regulators also said that the fish is unlikely to harm populations of natural salmon, a key concern for environmental activists.
The FDA will take comments from the public on its report for 60 days before making it final.
The FDA said more than two years ago that the fish appears to be safe to eat, but the agency had taken no public action since then. Executives for the company behind the fish, Maynard, Mass.-based Aquabounty, speculated that the government was delaying action on their application due to push-back from groups who oppose genetically modified food animals.
Experts view the release of the environmental report as the final step before approval.
If FDA regulators clear the salmon, as expected, it would be the first scientifically altered animal approved for food anywhere in the world.
Critics call the modified salmon a "frankenfish." They worry that it could cause human allergies and the eventual decimation of the natural salmon population if it escapes and breeds in the wild.
AquaBounty has maintained that the fish is safe and that there are several safeguards against environmental problems. The fish would be bred female and sterile, though a very small percentage might still be able to breed. The company said the potential for escape is low. The FDA backed these assertions in documents released in 2010.
Since its founding in 1991, Aquabounty has burned through more than $67 million developing the fast-growing fish. According to its midyear financial report, the company had less than $1.5 million in cash and stock left. It has no other products in development.
The AquaAdvantage salmon has an added growth hormone from the Pacific Chinook salmon that allows the fish to produce growth hormone all year long. The engineers were able to keep the hormone active by using another gene from an eel-like fish called an ocean pout that acts like an "on" switch for the hormone. Typical Atlantic salmon produce the growth hormone for only part of the year.
This is a serious matter, unlikeliness that it would harm the salmon population is a broad statement. I used to fish and am currently studying and I dont see any bio studies published on this subject, and I hate to say it but the FDA have proven themselves not absolutely reliable for making good decisions.
When I see FDA, or any other "F" for that matter makes the short hairs on my neck stand-up. All you believers in government approved food need to look at who tested it. AquaBounty wouldn't lie for money would they? Nope, I'll let the 'AquaAdvantage' swim on by.
"Federal health regulators say a genetically engineered salmon that grows twice as fast as normal is unlikely to harm the environment..." So that means that they will clearly label it like they do with all the other GMOs?...wait there is no requirement for GMO labeling because the FDA says its "safe"! ( even though some have been shown to cause cancer in lab rats.)
 @aintno1special This shouldn't surprise you, its the only expected outcome of business "Capturing" regulation. If this worries you, dont look at who runs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Its the owners of the nuke plants and is exactly what Benito was talking about in the late '30s and early '40s.
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"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power.â --Benito Mussolini
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They started with 67 million dollars and have 1.5 million left. That means 5 million went into research and development and 60 million went to corrupt US politicians.
I would eat this with no second thoughts... where can I buy some!
All I can say is about this is... BULL-$H1T!!!
Oh well that makes me feel better! If the FDA says it's safe, it must be. Just like all the other crap people eat that is cleared by the FDA. Â
Profits over Proof.
The key word here is "unlikely". The truth is they have no idea and no way to know, and aren't about to try. But hey, who wants to catch some 200-pound salmon? $$$$$
Genetically modified salmon doesn't sound that appealing.
Hmmm. a few scientific things that ran amuck. 60 plus years ago science said asbestos was safe. Now YIKES! in 1954 the FDA said Thalidomide was safe and possed no harm. yeah right! I wonder if 30 years from now the same thing will be said of this fish?
@wynooheeman Actually, the FDA never approved Thalidomide for sale in the U.S., because their scientists were suspicious of it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide
However, your general point is correct: Any new fish, plant or other substance has the theoretic risk of being dangerous. Even changing the cooking temperature of french fries has been shown to alter the amount of possible carcinogens, so no change is perfectly safe.  However, if you understand the biology, the risk seems very low that this fish could be dangerous.
How could these fish grow twice as fast, and not eat twice as much? Â What will this do to herring, squid and shrimp populations if they repeatedly escape their pens? Â What if these fish end up being a locust we are unleashing on our oceans. Â
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Go ahead and farm them but do it in a big tank...inland. Â Never let them in the salt.
If they allow this fish to be produced every fish farmer on the coast will end up with them, law or no law.
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@Jerry Mander What you have to understand is that in the wild, it is bad for a fish to be growing all the time. During seasons when food is scarce, a wild fish stops growing to conserve energy. These new fish don't, and they would tend to die in the wild after using up all their fat stores. The new fish do well only in tanks, where they are fed a steady supply of food.
If the fast-growing salmon enters our food supply, I want it labeled, so that I won't buy it.Â
so its not enough they are trying to feed us all pill for every problem we have. Now they want to engineer our foods too? I am sure the patent people will be plenty busy. And who makes the money?
"AquaBounty has maintained that the fish is safe and that there are several safeguards against environmental problems. The fish would be bred female and sterile, though a very small percentage might still be able to breed."
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Gee, that's almost what was said in Jurassic Park!
 @tats76 Doctors used to say smoking cigarettes was good for you too.lol These federal agencies are a sham. They have the heads of these agencies appointed by presidents who are beholding to the people who paid for his election campaign and so he hires high level people from the very companies that they are supposed to be regulating. Then when the new president comes in to appoint new heads, the old ones just go back working for the same companies they were supposed to be regulating.
@tats76Â Â I was thinking the same thing.
The FDA being a government entity doesn't know their a** from a hole in the ground and is only interested in money.
The FDA doesn't know their a** from a hole in the ground
I wonder who is getting any form of kickback from Aquabounty to approve the fish for release.
 @Dhnr Kickbacks are the norm in federal agencies. They usually don't take cash but they do accept nice trips on big yachts and they get paid for fake speaking engagements. Then of course when they leave the agencies they go back to work for the same people they were supposed to be regulating. Capitalism is a beautiful thing.
 @Blindman Dont take cash? Obama ran the first ever billion dollar campaign with cash and it didnt come from around the dinner table.
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Capitalism? When corporations control politicians with corporate campaign contributions to gain control of a government and a people, it is called fascism.
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"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power.â --Benito Mussolini
OMG these fish are gonna get huge and smart and take over the world.
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PANIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why are the Food and Drug administration folks commenting on environmental impact? Shouldn' t that be a Department of Natural resources type of Job? Or some outfit that handles Wildlife, not Food and Drugs?
This is insane, who knows how these fish will mutate in the wild and if there is some way they might be able to reproduce with other fish or spread a virus to the other fish that they alone were originally susceptible to. Sheer idiocy.Â
@NorthwestEconomist I am thinking of far worst things then you just posted. Like if consumed that it might alter human DNA?
I'm not eating this. So no more farmed salmon for me unless they WA state approves the GM labeling scheme. I'm pissed off.
@banana3 You can buy salmon marked "organic" or salmon marked "not genetically modified."Â Organic websites explain how to avoid genetically modified foods for the small number of people who are scared of them.
 @Joe Olden  @banana3 Actually, it's not such a small number anymore, it's growing, and with good reason.
I think I would rather eat bottom fish out of the Duwamish River. NO to "Frankin Fish" and their developers.
They need to stop screwing with nature, hasn't Monsanto f'ed things up enough? They should be working on restoring the natural balance, not trying to throw the ecosystem more out of whack.
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Adding non native species to any enviroment has never panned out to the benefit of native species. Man creates the imbalances and instead of enhancing the native enviroment they attempt to add non native, unsustainable practices. Man has NEVER improved upon nature. Â
 @fedup23 "Man has NEVER improved upon nature" Yeah but they've certainly increased their profit potential. In the land of capitalism money is the only thing that counts. People that invest in stocks and mutual funds are the main problem. If companies don't find ways to increase their profit margins annually their stock prices will go down and they will eventually die. Its a ponzi scheme is all it is. People need to start saving money again and quit investing in this fake economy backed by our fake currency and a lot of these problems will disappear. hell people are still so stupid they stay at crooked banks like JP Morgan and Bank of Amerika. No one bothers to do any research on any companies they invest in.
"genetically engineered salmon that grows twice as fast as normal is unlikely to harm the environment" "Regulators also said that the fish is unlikely to harm populations of natural salmon,"These fish have been described as 'voracious' feeders... you ADD these to natural habitats of native fish and they WILL have an impact .. they will deplete the natural food sources for native fish.. they grow faster and get bigger than native fishes.. it is no question of who is going to be getting what food sources are available. .  I forsee native fish will be starved out of thier natural enviroment by an 'unnatural' competitor.
@fedup23  What you have to understand is that in the wild, it is bad for a fish to be growing all the time. During seasons when food is scarce, a wild fish stops growing to conserve energy. These new fish don't, and they would tend to die in the wild after using up all their fat stores. The new fish do well only in tanks, where they are fed a steady supply of food.
 @fedup23 Yeah but these guys are supposed to be the experts.lol
Such mindless idiots that keep trying to manipulate nature with absolutely no research whether its going to harm the environment. Just more of capitalism working its magic.
 @Blindman  @fedup23 Don't be fooled.  They have done their research, and done it very well.  They know exactly what will happen after the release of these fish and have their fingers poised on the shredders on button at the first hint of problems/lawsuits.
@Blindman it is simply a matter of money over matter. Research is only as good as the data it 'chooses' to utilize. Data can be twisted to any conclusion. Nature in its' purest form is 'perfect'. It is man's repeated attempts to 'improve' it that it goes amuck.
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 @Blindman  "capitalism is the problem."
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I dont think regulated capitalism is a problem. Look at how well it works in the great societies of Norway and Sweden as well as other northern European countries that rejected our deregulated predatory capitalism (Fascism) as opposed to the European countries that bought into our derivatives and triple A scams.
 @fedup23  @Blindman Exactly, capitalism is the problem. Its the incessant drive of higher profits at any cost to humanity. As long as the rich are allowed to set public policy, nature and us will always lose.
Wrong. The FDA needs new scientists as the ones they have seem bought and paid for. Genetically modified anything should not be released in nature, intentionally or otherwise. These especially as they can easily overwhelm the native species due to outpacing during the life-cycle and consuming all the resources.
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Look around at "invasive species" that get transplanted and see all the damage done. The fact the FDA thinks its a non-issue is pretty damn insulting to the common man that CAN see.