Court Rejects FDA Secrecy in Genetically Engineered Salmon Case

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) attempt to hide thousands of pages of key government documents revealing how the agency arrived at its controversial approval of the first-ever genetically engineered (GE) animal for human consumption, a GE salmon. The court order rejected the Trump Administration’s position that it can unilaterally decide which documents to provide and which to withhold from public and court review. “Dictatorial secrecy is antithetical to democracy. This is a safeguarding win for government transparency, accountability, and meaningful judicial review of government decisions,” said George Kimbrell, of Center for Food Safety and counsel in the case.

Against The Advice of Experts, Canada Approves World’s First Genetically Modified Salmon Destined For Consumption In The U.S.

Running into opposition in getting their GM salmon approved in the U.S., Aquabounty has apparently switched strategies and targeted Canada instead. Environment Canada has approved the commercial production of GM Atlantic salmon eggs which grow to market-size twice as fast as other farmed salmon. The biotech company Aquabounty has revealed that it is no longer asking for approval to grow the fish in the US but plans to produce all of the GM salmon eggs in Canada and then sell “table-ready” GM salmon into the US consumer market. It is an alarming decision that sets Canada up to be the source of global environmental risk.

Study: GM Salmon Breed with Trout, Create Superfish

Genetically modified salmon are more dangerous than anyone had realized. It’s now proven beyond doubt that they can interbreed with not only wild salmon, but also trout. Worse, the result is offspring that grow even faster than their parents and can outcompete them by a huge amount.

Why Are Federal Agencies Using Your Money to Fund Genetically Engineered Salmon?

By Rich Bindell
Food and Water Watch
The USDA recently granted $494,000 in funding to AquaBounty Technologies, the company behind AquAdvantage, or genetically engineered (GE) salmon. The money will fund the company’s research into sterilization techniques. GE salmon has been a rather controversial issue with the American public. In fact, most consumers have said they don’t […]

Why Alaska is Losing the Fight to Block Genetically Engineered Salmon

Health Impact News Editor Comments:

Melanie Warner has written a good article on bnet.com chronicling the difficulties senators from Alaska and other salmon producing states are having in battling the approval of genetically engineered salmon that many label as “frankenfish.”  Warner states that “the FDA appears to be hellbent on providing U.S. consumers with their […]