The Canadian government has given the go-ahead for production to begin at the AquaBounty’s facility in Rollo Bay, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
After an “extensive and thorough evaluation,” Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) approved the Company’s Rollo Bay production facility for the commercial manufacture and grow-out of AquAdvantage Salmon, AquaBounty said in a press release.
The decision represents the latest in a string of regulatory victories for AquaBounty. One month ago, the United States Food and Drug Administration lifted its import alert on AquAdvantage Salmon after the United States Department of Agriculture issued its final rule on labeling genetically engineered foods in the country.
AquaBounty will begin stocking the Rollo Bay production facility as soon as possible, with the first harvest of AquAdvantage Salmon estimated for the fourth quarter of 2020. That will come close to matching to the timing of the first harvest at the company’s production facility in Albany, Indiana, U.S.A.
“We are pleased that Environment and Climate Change Canada has determined that AquAdvantage Salmon is safe to produce in our Rollo Bay production facility. We take biosecurity and sustainability seriously, and our state-of-the-art recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) design includes multiple and redundant physical barriers to escape,” AquaBounty CEO Sylvia Wulf said. “With this final regulatory approval now obtained, we anticipate hiring more people from the community on Prince Edward Island to ramp up commercial production of our salmon, joining our current staff of 25.”
However, the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network and other groups criticized the Rollo Bay facility’s approval because there is no mandatory labeling of GE foods in Canada, the group said in a press release.
“This decision means more Canadians will be eating GM salmon without knowing,” CBAN Coordinator Lucy Sharratt said.
Although the P.E.I. production site is on land, environmental groups continue to raise concerns about the impacts if any escape into the wild occurs.
“More GM salmon means more risk to wild Atlantic salmon. That is the science,” the Ecology Action Centre’s Mark Butler said. “This decision is the first step in a dangerous expansion of GM fish production. We need a national consultation on improving regulation before new GM animals are approved. We need democracy and transparency on this issue.”
But AquaBounty said several countries have now independently verified the environmental safety of AquAdvantage Salmon. The ECCC’s approval is the fifth regulatory determination of environmental safety after similar findings in the U.S., Argentina, Brazil, and China, AquaBounty said.
“The latter three countries reviewed the potential environmental impacts before approving trials. Given AquaBounty’s focus on producing an environmentally and economically sustainable supply of high-quality seafood, this Canadian approval is another confirmation that the company is doing the right thing,” AquaBounty said.
