California Seeks to Ban GM Fish

California Seeks to Ban GM Fish

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--The Assembly Member Nation of the California Senate introduced a bill (#AJR 38) on Feb. 25, 2002, to urge the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to deny a petition to market genetically modified (GM) salmon. The bill further suggests that the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Commerce instate a moratorium on the domestic marketing, importation and exportation of transgenic fish until FDA evaluates and addresses the potential health and environmental impacts.

California is not the first state to consider such a legal action against transgenic fish. The first was Maryland, which passed a modification to its existing hybrid law to ban the raising of GM fish in waters that connect to other state waterways. The law (www.ago.state.mo.us) was signed by ParisGlendening, the governor of Maryland, in mid-2001 to protect wild fish from being overtaken by biotech species.

California Senate bill #AJR 38 was drafted to protect California's recreational and food population of salmon, which has already been designated as an endangered species under state and federal law. According to the California Senate (info.sen.ca.gov), salmon in the area could become more at risk of extinction through contact with transgenic fish, as there is "increasing evidence" that the biotech salmon are a threat to wild salmon because of potential marine pollution, as well as the possibility that escaped transgenic fish might compete with wild species for food and spawning areas.

"We hope this legislation does pass in California because it will send a wake-up call to the FDA and the U.S. Congress," said Craig Winters, the executive director of The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods (www.thecampaign.org). "These fish should not be permitted to be commercially grown, and if the FDA rules to allow it, the U.S. Congress should pass legislation to stop it."

The California Senate bill specifically asks FDA to deny a petition from A/F Protein to commercialize transgenic fish. However, according to Joseph McGonigle, vice president of Waltham, Mass.-based Aqua Bounty Farms Inc., it is not A/F Protein that develops the transgenic salmon; rather, it is Aqua Bounty Farms. Both companies are under the direction of chief executive officer Ellion Entis, although there is no common ownership of the companies.

Aqua Bounty Farms has petitioned FDA for approval of its transgenic salmon, which, according to the company, will offer numerous benefits to farmers, consumers and the environment. McGonigle stated that the transgenic salmon will reduce production costs to farmers because they grow to maturity nearly twice as fast as non-biotech fish. With decreased production costs, salmon prices at market would also decrease, which would be good for the consumer, McGonigle said. The final benefit would be to the environment by nearly doubling fallowing periods. "We think [these reasons are] significant in terms of lowering production costs in general, lowering consumer costs and improving the nutritional profile of an affordable diet." McGonigle said. "And [there are] incidental environmental benefits related to the more efficient use of resources."

As a risk-prevention measure, McGonigle said the company's policy is to sell only eggs that will hatch into sterile female fish. The fish farmers raise the eggs to adulthood and sell them on the market. In the chance that a fish escapes a farm, it will be unable to reproduce in the wild. "The sexually viable animals are completely contained within our land-based hatchery in Canada," McGonigle said. "The only products or commercial products we will sell are eggs or fish that are sterile."

Regardless, the California Senate seeks a moratorium on domestic marketing, importation and exportation of transgenic fish, as well as any transgenic fish materials such as eggs and additional food products. The legislation, if passed, will charge FDA to establish a "comprehensive regulatory framework pursuant to the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act that evaluates and fully addresses the human health and environmental impacts caused by commercialization of transgenic fish."

According to McGonigle, pilot studies on the allergenicity of the fish have been conducted already, and more in-depth studies are being conducted currently. Results from these studies will be given to FDA before they are released publicly. For more information on transgenic fish, visit the Aqua Bounty Farms Web site (www.aquabounty.com).