Activists fight FDA and fish farms

7 Mar 2013, 12:20 pm   -   Source: AAP

Fishermen have concerns that a lab on Prince Edward Island in Canada may sell genetically engineered salmon to consumers in the United States.

Every summer since 1979, Kim Hubert has fished for sockeye salmon in Alaska's Bristol Bay. It's a family business in tiny Togiak that has, from time to time, also employed his wife and three children.

Hubert and his 21-year-old daughter work the nets now. They're small permit holders who may catch and sell thousands of salmon in their nets each year, depending on the success of the run.

"We've got a fish camp out there. We enjoy the people and the bay and the work," said Hubert, 58, a retired schoolteacher who lives in Eagle River. "Some years we lose a few bucks, and some years we make a few."

They and other fishermen have been casting a wary eye on Washington, where the Food and Drug Administration is considering whether AquaBounty, a Massachusetts-based company with a lab on Prince Edward Island in Canada and growing facilities in Panama, may sell genetically engineered salmon to consumers in the United States.

More than 33,000 fishermen, environmentalists, food safety advocates and others have written to the FDA with concerns about the agency's preliminary findings. Among the worries is that the genetically engineered fish might escape and mix with wild salmon. The company says that's unlikely, not only because the fish are sterile but also because of its production process.

But there's a reason that Alaska bans salmon fish farms in the state, the Sitka Conservation Society, an environmental group in southeast Alaska, said in its letter to the FDA. They fear that the company will expand to the US, where the fish would be closer to native salmon populations.

"These farms pollute water with concentrated fish waste and feed, spread sea lice and ultimately lead to escapement and interbreeding," the organisation said. "If genetically modified salmon are permitted, it will be only a matter of time before they are muddling the pure wild population in Alaska."

Mostly, though, fishermen in Alaska fear that the new, faster-growing farmed fish would threaten their livelihood eventually by flooding the market with cheap fish. They're also pressing for the AquaBounty salmon to be labelled as genetically engineered because they think that their wild-caught, more expensive product is superior. They want no confusion in the marketplace.

"In some ways I felt threatened," Hubert said. "The threat may not be immediate, but I think down the line there could be some repercussions. We've had a lot of issues with labelling, and the ability (of consumers) to choose and know where the fish come from: what kind of stocks, whether they're farmed or wild fish."

The AquaBounty fish are Atlantic salmon that have been genetically altered with growth genes from a Chinook salmon and a sea eel. That makes them grow faster than other farmed Atlantic salmon, although they don't get any bigger than regular salmon.

The FDA issued a preliminary finding in late December that the fish, known as the AquAdvantage Salmon, is as safe as eating conventional Atlantic salmon and that there's a reasonable certainty of no harm in consuming it. The agency also issued a draft environmental assessment that there's little chance of environmental harm from farming the fish.

However, after pressure from Congress - especially from Alaska politicians - the FDA in February extended the public comment period on its findings by 60 days. People have until April 26 to weigh in, and after that the agency will decide whether to issue a final report or pursue a more comprehensive environmental impact statement.

AquaBounty executives aren't currently granting interviews. The company's last public statement came in mid-February, when the FDA announced that it would extend the comment period. AquaBounty Chief Executive Officer Ron Stotish said at the time that they weren't pleased with the delay.

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