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Frankenfish Pose Environmental and Health Threats

© Tim King

Salmon steak from genetically manipulated salmon may be available to diners and grocery shoppers in the near future. It will, that is, if Aqua Bounty Farms, has its way. Aqua Bounty Farms, also known as A/F Protein, has asked the US Food and Drug Administration to approve for human consumption a transgenic fish containing a growth hormone gene from a chinook salmon and an antifreeze protein gene promoter from an ocean pout that keeps the growth hormone active.  This antifreeze transgene is injected into fertilized eggs. 

In mid-October, citing risks to the environment and human health, three environmental groups petitioned the FDA and seafood retailers and wholesalers to hold off on going public Aqua Bounty's franken-fish. Friends of the Earth, the Center for Food Safety, and Clean Water Action announced a new campaign on Oct. 18 that aims to prevent the commercialization of genetically engineered fish, according to an article published in Environmental News Network http://www.enn.com.

"Adequate independent studies of the health effects of eating these fish have not been conducted," Tracie Letterman of the Center for Food Safety http://www.gefish.org told ENN.

"There are potential toxicity, allergenicity, and aquaculture disease concerns posed by the commercialization of transgenic fish.  FDA has not stated whether they will require the mandatory labeling of transgenic fish products sold to consumers," the Center for Food Safety web site on genetically altered fish says in its frequently asked questions page.

The environmental effects of genetically altered fish are understood better than the health effects on humans.

"If transgenic fish escape from ocean pens into the environment, they will likely affect wild populations of fish. Studies show that transgenic fish are more aggressive, consume more food, and attract more mates than wild fish. These studies also show that although transgenic fish will attract more mates, their offspring will be less fit and less likely to survive. As a result, some scientists predict that transgenic fish will cause some species to become extinct within only a few generations," the organization's web site says.

Due to the continuous production of the growth hormone gene, these transgenic fish grow as much as ten to thirty times faster than normal salmon. That will allow the GMO fish to out compete the wild fish which are more adequately adapted to long term survival in the wild.

"A Purdue University study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science in November 1999 showed that the release of just 60 engineered fish into a population of 60,000 naturally occurring fish would cause the wild fish species to become extinct within only a few generations," wrote ENN in its October 22, 2001 story.

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