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GMO Salmon: A risky solution in search of a problem Tim Schwab Senior Researcher, Food & Water Watch Tulane University February 19, 2016.
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GMO salmon opposition --International Salmon Farmers Association “firmly rejects transgenic salmon production.” --Consumer polls consistently show widespread public opposition---they won’t eat it --Leading grocery stores---Kroger, Target, Trader Joe’s—have pledged they won’t sell it--
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BIOTECH LOBBYING EFFORT $572 million in campaign contributions and lobbying
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Trust but never verify FDA reviews industry data, not independent science Absence of evidence= evidence of absence
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Science or Science Fiction? "Maybe They [the FDA] Should Watch Jurassic Park.” --Denise Hawkins, PhD FWS Regional Geneticist
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Once Fish Escape….. --Biological containment --Geographic containment --Physical containment
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Biological Containment Up to 5% of GMO salmon will be fertile ---FDA Environmental Assessment
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Geographic Containment “-During the spring, summer and fall, temperatures in the waters adjacent to the facility are suitable for salmon survival.” -FDA Environmental Assessment
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Physical Containment “The damage by an unusually severe storm caused the water inlet system for tanks…to fail during the night with the result that all of these fish were lost. “ AquaBounty Press Release 2008
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AquaBounty’s “Fort Knox” “Officials in Panama have fined the local facility of a US biotechnology company for a series of permitting and regulatory failures around a pioneering attempt to create genetically modified salmon.” ---The Guardian
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AquaBounty’s “Fort Knox”
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Environmental Risks Once fish escape, they can never be retrieved
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Genetic Engineering: Unintended Consequences --Genetic engineering combines genes in a way that would never happen in nature -GMO salmon only as closely related to its gene donor as human being is to dolphin
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Food Safety ---Many statistically significant differences in nutrition --Does growth-hormone gene construct increase hormone levels? --Allergies---FDA only looked at six fish; statistically significant differences that FDA still chose to ignore.
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Animal Safety --“reasonable certainty that AAS is more susceptible to A. salmonicida than domesticated comparators...” --“...The study design was too restrictive in scope to provide a satisfactory answer” to the question of whether the overall health of AAS may be compromised in a commercial setting. -Department of Fisheries and Ocean Canada Draft Review
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Growth Rates --FDA only examined growth rates up to 100 grams, the point at which you move salmon from fresh water to salt water. --Never examined growth rates to market weight or full life cycle
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“A solution in search of a problem”
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FDA Approval: 11/2015 --FDA approved GMO salmon as safe to eat; said it needs no label --YET GMO salmon not yet approved as safe to produce in USA
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FDA Approval: 11/2015 --U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has “strongly recommend[ed]” an EIS for all grow-out facilities located in the United States.
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FDA Approval: 11/2015 -- Congress stepped in and required FDA to formulate rules on labeling --FDA declared that imports of GMO salmon are banned until labeling rules are in place
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Conclusion “Science-based rules” developed via intense biotech industry lobbying; FDA approvals based on biased industry science
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