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Washington Bans Genetically Engineered Salmon

Posted 01/03/2002
SEATTLE, Washington (ENS) -

Washington has adopted the nation's toughest restrictions on genetically engineered salmon. On December 7, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted sweeping new regulations banning genetically engineered salmon from fish farms in all its marine waters. The move came in the wake of repeated, large scale escapes of farmed fish, and heavy media coverage of recent biotech industry blunders including food crop contamination incidents. "Simply engineering designer fish and dropping them into our public waterways puts already endangered salmon at greater risk of extinction," said Shawn Cantrell, Friends of the Earth's Northwest regional director. "Washington State has taken a bold step to protect the environment by permanently banning genetically engineered fish." The tough new state regulations placed on fish farms operating in Puget Sound and other coastal areas were adopted in the face of growing scientific evidence that federal agencies have put the environment and public health at risk by failing to prevent the unintended and uncontrolled release of genetically engineered organisms.

The new rules will require state agencies to implement new enforcement and oversight measures to address the negative impacts of poorly regulated fish farms. Genetically engineered, or transgenic, fish are custom designed to possess certain desirable traits otherwise impossible to acquire in nature by breeding. They are often the product of much trial and error, created by scientists who alter their DNA in laboratories by inserting genetic material culled from different animals, insects, plants, bacteria and viruses. One company, A/F Protein, has developed an Atlantic salmon genetically engineered to grow four to six times the rate of wild type salmon.

The consequences of engineering such life, and the technology used to accomplish it, is still experimental and unpredictable. "The introduction of transgenic fish into fish farms could have led to a major ecological disaster," said Joel Hanson, a citizen activist who helped persuade the Fish and Wildlife Commission to adopt the ban. "I am very pleased Washington State will not allow such a risky technology into our marine waters." Scientists from Purdue University determined that if just 60 transgenic salmon escaped from fish farms and joined a population of wild salmon, the wild population could theoretically become extinct in 40 generations. A new study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) also recognized serious human health, environmental and ethical concerns associated with the use of genetically engineered animals, including fish, in the food supply.

In addition to the ban on transgenic fish, the new rules adopted by Washington State are intended to address other serious risks that fish farms pose to wild type fish and wildlife and their habitat. In response to public outcry, the rules were strengthened to require improved procedures to prevent escapes from fish farms, and to limit the duration of farm permits to five years.

The rules also require better disclosure of drug and pesticide treatments used on the fish, inspections of every facility at least once a year, and expanded public and agency review of permit applications. "Several hundred thousand Atlantic salmon have escaped from fish farms in Washington State in recent years, crowding out native Pacific salmon and spreading disease," said Cantrell. "These new rules are an important step in protecting threatened and endangered Puget Sound salmon populations from some of the worst impacts of non-native, farmed fish." Ongoing problems with escapes as well as massive outbreaks of disease among farmed fish highlight the urgent need for tighter regulation of aquaculture operations. "It is essential that these new rules are immediately implemented and aggresively enforced," said Cantrell. "Our wild salmon populations are already struggling to survive - the last thing they need is more competition from exotic species escaping from fish farms."