Green Eco News - FDA to Rule on Genetically Altered Fish

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September 1, 2010 - In the United States, health officials are set to decide on the controversial subject of altering fish genetically.

Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc. (ABTI), is a company that has actually developed the ability to genetically alter fish in order to make them mature quickly. The idea is to make more fish available for consumption at a faster rate by selling the would-be approved fish to fish farmers nationwide.

This, they say creates less stress on our wild life environment. The company wants to boost the nation’s fish bounty without creating over fishing in some of its already environmentally challenged waterways.

The fish species they are altering by way of genetics is the Atlantic salmon.

A few of the questions the FDA will no doubt ponder revolve around is whether it is safe to do so. Many consumer activists and food safety authorities are concerned that manipulating fish genes in order to put more food on a plate could be damaging to consumer health, our eco-systems and waterways. They believe genetically altered fish may in fact cause the opposite effect that ABTI is trying to accomplish.

What if a genetically altered fish escaped and made its way into the wild eco-system? Will more industrial farming become too harmful? What are the side-effects to human health from consumption of hereditarily altered fish? Will this create digestive issues for humans? Will doing this create more unknown and powerful allergies?

The way ABTI alter the fish, named AquaAdvantage, is by continually feeding them growth hormones in order to grow the fish much faster. If the company gains FDA approval to move forward with it genetically altered fish, they will then produce tilapia and trout.

The FDA will begin a 3 day process to rule on this subject starting September 19. In this country, the FDA has already approved genetically altered plants. Other companies have been working on beef and pork by developing altered beef and pork.

Aqua Bounty Technologies is a Massachusetts based company. The company fully believes that the fish tastes great and creates no due course for special labeling.

One thing is certain, the topic genetically altered fish and other meats for consumption sure creates a lot of questions and opens up a lot of dialog for environmentalists and other conscientious people.

Author: Amy Wermuth