Genetically engineered salmon: What could possibly go wrong?
Under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved application, the company behind the so-called AquAdvantage Salmon, Aqua Bounty, can only raise such salmon in land-based tanks with “multiple and redundant levels of physical barriers to prevent eggs and fish from escaping.” These barriers are described in detail and suggest that it will be very difficult for any eggs or fish to escape into waterways.
The FDA said it considered four interrelated questions about confinement of the fish:
- What is the likelihood that AquAdvantage Salmon will escape the conditions of confinement?
- What is the likelihood that AquAdvantage Salmon will survive and disperse if they escape the conditions of confinement?
- What is the likelihood that AquAdvantage Salmon will reproduce and establish if they escape the conditions of confinement?
- What are the likely consequences to, or effects on, the environment of the United States should AquAdvantage Salmon escape the conditions of confinement?
Right away we can see that the FDA is asking these questions in the wrong way because it misunderstands the risks involved. It should be asking if there is ANY LIKELIHOOD WHATSOEVER that the salmon will escape, survive, disperse, reproduce and establish populations in the wild.
Why is it important to ask the question in this way? Because although the salmon are sterilized, the “sterilization technique is not foolproof,” according to The New York Times.
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