Lab made fish.

America’s Biggest Retailers and Foodservice Companies Have Already Agreed Not To Sell GMO Salmon

For decades, Americans have been teased with the impending arrival of genetically engineered salmon. If a boycott campaign continues apace, they may have to wait even longer.

February 11, 2021 | Source: The Counter | by Sam Bloch

AquaBounty says its first bioengineered salmon will be harvested in March, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to buy.

For decades, Americans have been teased with the impending arrival of genetically engineered salmon. If a boycott campaign continues apace, they may have to wait even longer.

Earlier this month, a coalition of environmentalists and grassroots organizers announced they had successfully pressured Aramark, one of the country’s largest foodservice companies, into agreeing not to sell the salmon, should it become available in the United States. 

Although the legal status of the AquAdvantage salmon is in limbo, AquaBounty, the Massachusetts-based biotech company that developed it, told The Counter it expects to harvest the fish from an Indiana facility in March, and bring it to market shortly thereafter.

But it’s not clear who will buy it. Aramark joins 85 grocery chains, seafood companies, restaurants, and foodservice companies that have pledged not to sell the salmon since 2013, according to Friends of the Earth, a nonprofit environmental advocacy that led the pressure campaign against Aramark.