Sierra Club is part of this action...


August 27, 2010
JOINT PRESS STATEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE  RELEASE

Contacts:
George Kimbrell, Center for Food Safety:  571-527-8618
Jaydee Hanson, Center for Food Safety: 202-547-9359 (w);  703-231-5956 (c)
Marianne Cufone, Food and Water Watch: 202-683-2511
Niaz  Dorry, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance: 508-982-3748
Jonathan Rosenfield, PhD, SalmonAID Foundation:  510-684-4757


COALITION DEMANDS FDA DENY APPROVAL OF CONTROVERSIAL  GENETICALLY 
ENGINEERED FISH

FDA Considers Approval of GE Salmon--the First GE Food  Animal--Yet Fails 
to Inform the Public of Environmental and Economic  Risks

Washington, DC August 27, 2010 - A coalition of 31 consumer, animal  
welfare and environmental groups, along with commercial and recreational  
fisheries associations and food retailers submitted a joint statement  criticizing 
an announcement this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  (FDA) 
that it will potentially approve the long-shelved AquAdvantage transgenic  
salmon as the first genetically engineered (GE) animal intended for human  
consumption.

The engineered Atlantic salmon being considered was  developed by 
AquaBounty Technologies, which artificially combined growth hormone  genes from an 
unrelated Pacific salmon, (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) with DNA from  the 
anti-freeze genes of an eelpout (Zoarces americanus).  This  modification causes 
production of growth-hormone year-round, creating a fish the  company claims 
grows at twice the normal rate. This could allow factory fish  farms to 
crowd fish into pens and still get high production  rates.

Each year millions of farmed salmon escape from open-water  net pens, 
outcompeting wild populations for resources and straining ecosystems.  "We 
believe any approval of GE salmon would represent a serious threat to the  
survival of native salmon populations, many of which have already suffered  severe 
declines related to salmon farms and other man-made impacts," Marianne  
Cufone, director of Food and Water Watch's fish program said. 

If the FDA opens this door, GE fish will likely be  among the millions of 
salmon that currently escape from open ocean pens every  year.  This could be 
the last blow to wild salmon stocks and in turn the  thousands of men and 
women who depend on fishing for their livelihoods.  "Approving genetically 
engineered salmon is a sharp contradiction to the  agreements the United 
States has signed at NASCO, where transgenic salmonids are  considered a serious 
threat to wild salmon" said Boyce Thorne Miller, Science  and Policy 
Coordinator for the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance and accredited  observer at 
the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization.

Escaped  GE salmon can pose an additional threat - genetic pollution 
resulting from what  scientists call the "Trojan gene" effect." Research published 
in the Proceedings  of the National Academy of Sciences notes that a 
release of just sixty GE salmon  into a wild population of 60,000 would lead to 
the extinction of the wild  population in less than 40 generations.

Anticipating the stark danger to  our fisheries and ocean environments - 
and trying to circumvent analyses of  those dangers - AquaBounty has claimed 
that they will only raise their fish in  land-based facilities.  However most 
salmon farmers in the real world ply  their trade in low-lying coastal 
areas and competing corporations will no doubt  race to produce GE fish in 
crowded open ocean facilities already in use for fish  production.  Backsliding 
on its original claims, reports have circulated  that AquaBounty may only 
suggest producers raise GE fish in "inland waters" -  presenting novel threats 
to our nation's lakes, rivers, and estuaries - many of  which are already 
under attack by invasive fish species like the Asian carp and  Northern 
snakehead.

"FDA's decision to go ahead with this approval  process is misguided and 
dangerous, and is made worse by its complete lack of  data to review" said 
Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director for the Center for  Food Safety.  "FDA has 
been sitting on this application for 10 years and  yet it has chosen not to 
disclose any data about its decision until just a few  days before the 
public meeting."

On Wednesday, FDA officials announced that they had  begun the approval 
process for the engineered salmon and have scheduled public  meetings beginning 
Sunday, September 19.  Speakers wishing to present oral  comments are 
expected to submit their requests in writing by September 7th; one  day after the 
FDA has said it may post "some" of the data to its website.   "This is not 
a process that leads to full and informed public participation,"  said 
Charles Margulis, Sustainable Food Program Coordinator for the Center for  
Environmental Health.

FDA announced the same day that it will hold a  public comment period and a 
hearing on labeling for the transgenic salmon, which  seems to presuppose 
that the controversial GE fish will be approved. If the GE  fish is approved, 
Agency officials are undecided as to whether they will require  any product 
labeling.

"We all know there is a great appetite for salmon,  but the solution is not 
to 'farm' genetically engineered versions to put more on  our dinner 
tables; the solution is to work to bring our wild salmon populations  back" said 
Jonathan Rosenfield, PhD, a Conservation Biologist and President of  the 
SalmonAID Foundation, a 28-member coalition of commercial, tribal, and  
sportfishing interests, conservation organizations and chefs.  "The  approval of 
these transgenic fish will only exacerbate the problems facing our  wild 
fisheries."


#  #  #

Here are the groups which signed on:
CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY - FOOD AND WATER WATCH - SALMONAID-  NORTHWEST 
ATLANTIC MARINE ALLIANCE - ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION - FRIENDS OF  THE EARTH 
- THE LIVING OCEANS SOCIETY - SMALL BOAT COMMERCIAL SALMON FISHERMEN'S  
ASSOCIATION - THE GEORGIA STRAIT ALLIANCE - CALIFORNIANS FOR GE-FREE AGRICULTURE 
 - THE ORGANIC & NON-GMO REPORT - PLANETARY HEALTH, INC. - SIERRA CLUB - 
SAY  NO TO GMOS! - CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH - CANADIAN BIOTECHNOLOGY 
ACTION  NETWORK - INSTITUTE FOR FISHERIES RESOURCES - AMERICAN 
ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY  - PACIFIC COAST FEDERATION OF FISHERMEN'S ASSOCIATION - MANGROVE 
ACTION PROJECT  - FOOD FIRST / INSTITUTE FOR FOOD AND DEVELOPMENT POLICY - 
EDEN FOODS, INC. -  THE NON-GMO PROJECT - NORTHWEST RESISTANCE AGAINST 
GENETIC ENGINEERING - PCC  NATURAL MARKETS - AMBERWAVES - GLOUSTER FISHERMEN'S 
WIVES ASSOCIATION - FRESH  THE MOVIE - WASHINGTON BIOTECHNOLOGY ACTION COUNCIL 
- OREGON PHYSICIANS FOR  SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY


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