Aquabounty in Murky Water After Accusations of Safety Violations at GM Salmon Plant

A former employee of genetically engineered (GE) salmon producer AquaBounty has alleged that the company has committed numerous worker and consumer safety violations at its Indiana production facility. Braydon Humphrey shared photos and videos documenting contaminated water, toxic chemicals, and environmental damage, according to the Block Corporate Salmon campaign.

April 1, 2023 | Source: AFN | by Jennifer Marston

AquaBounty’s AquAdvantage Salmon (AAS) is the first GE animal approved for human consumption in the US. But the product’s path to market has been filled with hiccups and false starts.

• AquaBounty’s raises its Atlantic salmon in freshwater in land-based, controlled aquaculture systems.

• The company adds a growth hormone-regulating gene from the Pacific Chinook to its salmon as well as a promoter gene from an ocean pout; the resulting GE salmon can grow year-round instead of just in spring and summer.

• The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved AAS in 2015; consumer backlash and an import ban ensued.

• The ban was lifted in 2019, only for AquaBounty to come under fire again in 2020 when the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the FDA violated environmental laws in approving the GE salmon.

• Despite this, AquaBounty Technologies has been “running business as usual,” according to Block Corporate Salmon.

• Humphrey was an employee at AquaBounty’s Indiana farm from December 2018 – January 2020.