I have been known, in moments of sheer desperation, to gag down farmed salmon.
But I can’t imagine eating genetically engineered salmon.
It’s not so much that I am preoccupied with allergic reactions and other unpleasant side effects, although these are prospects that certainly require further research.
I can’t imagine eating so-called GE salmon because I am opposed to raising them. Growers can take all the precautions they want, but as a practical matter they cannot prevent some level of escape. Commingling of mutant fish with wild native stocks could very well threaten the latter with extinction.
Additionally, AquaBounty Technologies, the company proposing the production of GE salmon, does not intend to label the fish as such, and under current FDA rules the company most likely won’t have to.
This is where the “Frankenfish” back-draft will hit the wild salmon producers from the get-go. There is without question a sizable segment of the public that will want nothing to do with GE salmon. Once these folks realize they have no way of identifying genetically engineered salmon, they’re likely to avoid salmon altogether.
Thank you for your time.
Jerry Fraser
Editor & Publisher, National Fisherman
www.nationalfisherman.com
