In the News, Winter 2024-25: Production of Genetically Engineered Salmon Ended

AquaBounty Technologies has announced it will stop production of its genetically engineered (GE) salmon and close its last working facility, at Bay Fortune in Prince Edward Island, Canada. The world’s first commercialized GE animal intended for human consumption had met with court challenges and was rejected by large food retailers and food service companies.

The production of GE salmon had engendered a great deal of controversy, with scientists suggesting it would become a public health risk and had the potential to cause irreversible damage to wild salmon populations. Indigenous peoples and fishing communities who depend on the fish for their physical and cultural well-being are particularly vulnerable to factors that might affect the health of wild salmon.

Consumer opposition to GE animals, according to polls, is high in both the U.S. and Canada. Most consumers indicate that they wouldn’t eat GE fish, and they believe that such foods should be labeled.

Estefanía Narvaèz, an organizer with the Block Corporate Salmon campaign, said, “GE salmon was always a false solution. We know that if we breach the dams, the salmon come back en mass. Breach the dams, restore salmon habitat, regulate factory trawlers, decenter industrial aquaculture from policy, build local infrastructure so fishers can distribute their fish more widely, invest in fishing communities! Those are real policy solutions.”

SOURCES:

Victory! Genetically engineered salmon production ends as AquaBounty shutters last facility. North American Marine Alliance, December 12, 2024. namanet.org/press-releases/victory-genetically-engineered-salmon-production-ends-as-aquabounty-shutters-last-facility.

AquaBounty announces plans to cease fish farming operations. Aqua Bounty, December 11, 2024. investors.aquabounty.com/news-releases/news-release-details/aquabounty-announces-plans-cease-fish-farming-operations.