U.S. regulators say that genetically engineered salmon as safe to eat as wild Atlantic salmon, after completing a preliminary analysis. Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc., have genetically modified their salmon so that they eat all year round and grow twice as fast as salmon typically would in their natural environments.

Genetically modified (engineered) salmon is an Atlantic salmon. It has been modified by adding a growth hormone regulating gene from another fish – the Pacific Chinook salmon – as well as an on-switch gene from an Ocean Pout (Zoarces americanus, an eel-type fish) to the Atlantic Salmon’s 40,000 genes. The genetically engineered Atlantic salmon eats all year round and gets bigger much more rapidly. Normal Atlantic salmon only feed during the spring and summer.

The aim of the genetic modifications is to speed up the fish’s growth, without affecting its eventual size or other characteristics. Normal Atlantic salmon take about three years to reach market size, while the genetically modified one takes from 16 to 18 months.

There is a 10-year ongoing review of an application to allow genetically modified salmon into the U.S. food supply – if approved, it will be the first modified animal to be approved to be sold for human consumption.

Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc. has named their modified salmon AquAdvantage Salmon.

A Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee, which advises the FDA, is holding a three-day meeting, starting on September 19th, 2010, at the Rockville Hilton, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, to decide whether to approve the fish for the U.S. food supply market. Although the Committee’s decision/recommendation is not binding, the FDA tends to go along with what they say.

In a press release, Aqua Bounty Technologies informs that:

In addition, the FDA will hold a public hearing on the application of its food labeling requirements and how they might apply to AquAdvantage® Salmon on 21st September at the same location (Rockville Hilton, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland).

Today’s news refers to documents released before the meeting by the FDA saying the genetically modified salmon is as safe to eat as normal Atlantic salmon, and that the modified fish were “highly unlikely to produce significant effects on the environment”.

Dr. Ronald Stotish, President and CEO of AquaBounty, commented:

This is welcome and exciting news for the Company as we near the end of the detailed and necessary process to receive regulatory approval for our AquAdvantage Salmon. The meeting will provide an opportunity for the public to understand how the application of our technology will enable the safe and sustainable production of high quality fish. We believe the economic and environmental benefits of our salmon will very effectively help to meet the demand for food from the growing world population.

According to the Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska, Anchorage, during the years 2000-2004, Americans consumed:

284 metric tons of salmon per year

One third of Salmon consumed consisted of Pacific salmon, and two thirds was Atlantic Salmon

One third was domestic production and two thirds was imported

60% was fresh salmon, 20% was frozen salmon, and 20% was canned salmon

45% of pacific salmon was canned

Almost no Atlantic salmon was canned

34% of Pacific salmon was frozen

13% of Atlantic salmon was frozen

21% of Pacific salmon was fresh

87% of Atlantic salmon was fresh

Americans consumed 130,000 metric tons of salmon in 1989, compared to 284,000 in 2004. This increase was mostly due to the growth in imported farmed salmon.

Sources: Institute of Social and Economic Research (University of Alaska), FDA (Food and Drug Administration), Aqua Bounty Technologies Inc., Wikipedia.

Written by Christian Nordqvist