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
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-SPST-BIOTECH-FORUM list,
send any message to:
[log in to unmask] Check out our
Listserv Lists support site for more information:
http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp