Genetically Modified Salmon

If you think salmon farming, genetically-modified sugar, and Monsanto are scary, the thought of genetically-modified salmon may evoke visions of Dr. Frankenstein with salmon farms on the Canadian Atlantic coast.  Science fiction?

Genetically-modified salmon could be in supermarkets within 1 to 2 years according to fleeting news piece in The Vancouver Sun earlier this Spring. If Aqua Bounty Farms’ product is commercialized, we are reliant on trusted local grocery stores to label accordingly since the Canadian federal government does not require labeling of genetically engineered foods.

Genetically Modified Salmon Seek Market
The Vancouver Sun – February 11, 2009

An aquaculture company that operates a farm on Prince Edward Island could market the world’s first genetically modified salmon. Aqua Bounty
Farms CEO Ron Stotish said Tuesday he hopes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will approve this year the company’s genetically modified hybrid of an Atlantic salmon crossed with the Pacific chinook salmon. Stotish said the fish, called an AquAdvantage Advanced Hybrid,
is made by adding a growth hormone from the chinook to the Atlantic salmon to allow it to grow much as much as 10 times faster than the regular, wild salmon. Stotish said, if approved in the U.S., it will still be another year or two before they are on Canadian dinner plates.