GE Salmon: 5 Questions & Answers about “FrankenFish”

By FALPC Intern, Kristina Kalolo

1. What is AquaAdvantage Salmon?

AquaAdvantage Salmon is the first genetically engineered (GE) animal being considered for human consumption by the FDA. The company behind this, AquaBounty Technologies, is headquartered pretty close by- Waltham, MA. What AquaBounty does is take the growth gene from a Chinook Salmon and the antifreeze gene from an Ocean Pout and insert them into an Atlantic Salmon. By inserting these genes (or genetically engineering), the AquaAdvantage Salmon’s DNA, it grows larger and 2 to 6 times faster than traditionally farmed salmon.

2. How will GE salmon effect human health?

Good question, scary answer: scientists are not really sure. GE salmon contains 40% higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth hormone 1 but the health impacts that would result are unknown. What scientists do know is that there are higher levels of allergy-producing compounds and lower levels of omega-3 fatty acids. There are also six chemicals (folic acid, niacin, vitamin B₆, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc) are present in GE salmon at values that differ by more than 10 percent from conventional farmed salmon.

3. How will GE salmon effect the environment?

This is one of the more controversial conversations around GE salmon. There is a lot of research and speculation about what would happen if these salmon escaped into the wild. Farmed salmon escape into the wild all the time, each year hundreds of thousands to millions make it out of farms to the open ocean! AquaBounty is trying to tackle this problem by farming all of their GE salmon in inland facilities. Two have already been established, an egg production facility on Prince Edward Island, Canada and a growth facility in Boquete, Panama. It is important to note that salmon are still able to escape during transportation to these locations and if there are malfunctions at the facilities. If you want to learn more about this, check out this interesting video.

If they do escape, there is a lot of conflicting research on what could happen. Some scientists expect that these GE salmon would be unfit to survivor in the wild and would die off. A prediction that has generated a lot of concern is the Trojan Gene Effect. The Trojan Gene Effect predicts that, based on a model of 60,000 wild fish and 60 GE fish, the wild population could be completely extinct in 40 generations. Even if GE salmon do not cause extinction, their highly aggressive behavior and consumption of three times the food of regular salmon has troubling implications for wild population and the ecosystems they would impact.

4. How will I know if I am eating GE salmon?

If the FDA does approve GE salmon, you will probably not know if you are eating traditionally farmed or GE salmon. At this point in time, there are no laws in Massachusetts that require businesses to tell you if you are eating genetically modified organisms. However, Massachussets is currently considering GMO labeling legislation- you can read more about this, and how to get involved, in our previous post.

5. How can I take action against GE salmon?

The good news is there is a lot of resistance against GE salmon, or this “FrankenFish.” The FDA’s decision about whether or not AquaAdvantage salmon can be produced and sold for human consumption will create a precedent for future decisions about GE animals and foods. Safeway and Kroeger have already declared that regardless of the FDA’s decision, they will not sell GE salmon in their stores.