Love salmon but hate how long it takes to grow? Well, you're in luck. The Food and Drug Administration gave preliminary approval last Friday to a genetically engineered salmon that grows twice as quickly as its counterpart in nature.
Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc., a Masschusetts-based company, spliced in genes from an ocean pout, which allows the AquAdvantage -- the fish's moniker -- to grow to a salable size in just 18 months. That's twice as fast as the growth rates for a traditional Atlantic salmon.
The brief released by the FDA found no biological difference between AquAdvantage and Atlantic salmon. If genetically engineered fish are deemed safe to eat by U.S. regulators, it would set a historic precedent. Dartmouth Professor Anne Kapuscinski explained what's at stake to The Washington Post:
If these genetically engineered salmon are approved, it will be setting worldwide precedent because salmon is a global commodity," Kapuscinski said. "It will be the first genetically engineered animal approved for human consumption and for wide-scale farming."The genetically modified fish are difficult to swallow for some. Formet Gourmet contributing editor Barry Estabrook dubbed the salmon "Frankenfish" after a visit to the AquaBounty laboratory in June. He also swore off farmed fish. The Center for Food Safety issued a statement at the end of August expressing concerns over genetic pollution and the risk to the wild salmon population.
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There's a good chance that the FDA will allow the genetically engineered salmon to be marketed without any disclosure on the product label. The FDA will accept public comments on the labeling issue until November 22. More details and links about the public comment opportunity are available on my blog.
I smoke a pack a day and eat fried food like it is going out of style, but I won't touch Atlantic Salmon. We hear alot about the evils of modern techniques of raising chickens and cows, but farm raised salmon is far worse. High levels of PCBs, artificial colorings, and the destruction of habitats surrounding the ocean pens they are raised in is just the tips of the iceberg. I am by no means an animal rights activist, but after writing about how these fish are raised for my blog I cringe even watching people eat it.
That being said, being able to raise them faster would reduce a number of the hazards caused by commercial salmon farming. I am sorta torn on this one. It is like comparing cocaine to meth. Arguing which is worse ignores that both are very bad.
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