Panamanian Salmon approved by the FDA

[Querencia]

I think I ate some of this salmon a few months ago bought in the Rio Hato area. Very good and very cheap. I know I know it's gmo. For those against gmo don't worry it will probably be replaced by CRISPR in the next few years.

http://www.businessinsider.com/fda-approves-gmo-salmon-2015-11

Edited November 19, 2015 by Querencia

[Hil]

I believe that is one of the farms I drove by near Volcan.

[Gordon Bakke]

No, the GMO fishfarm is in the Boquete area. There is a trout farm just up the hill from Volcan, in Bambito, but I think they just farm rainbow trout.

Frankly, I'm surprised that this decision was finally made after so many years of back-and-forth between Aquabounty and the FDA - it just seemed to be one of those decisions that was put off for political reasons. It'll be interesting to see if these fish make it into local markets.

I think it unlikely that any of these fish have yet been sold commercially in Panama. "AquaBounty estimates it will take several years before its fish hits the market, because the company needs to develop facilities to produce the salmon and begin raising them." Further, I think that beyond the approval to raise these fish in Panama, they would also need approval here for domestic consumption.

 

Edited November 19, 2015 by Gordon Bakke

[Keith Woolford]

[JoJo]

Keith, that's about it. Test it on the populace like they do all the drugs.

[TwoSailors]

Keith,

That's  great!

[JudyS]

6 hours ago, Querencia said:

I think I ate some of this salmon a few months ago bought in the Rio Hato area. Very good and very cheap. I know I know it's gmo. For those against gmo don't worry it will probably be replaced by CRISPR in the next few years.

http://www.businessinsider.com/fda-approves-gmo-salmon-2015-11

Have you grown any extra limbs or started playing the piano when you couldn't before?

[Querencia]

1 hour ago, JudyS said:

Have you grown any extra limbs or started playing the piano when you couldn't before?

I wish I could play the piano. I'll try eating some more.

[Keith Woolford]

Panama's GMO Salmon (Frankenfish ?) are back in the news today in Canada.

Exclusive

CFIA fast-tracked tests on genetically modified salmon eggs for exports, documents suggest

Documents show health inspectors scrambled to meet deadline for time-sensitive salmon egg test

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency fast-tracked safety tests on eggs from genetically modified salmon in order to hit an export deadline last year, according to internal government documents.

Documents obtained under Access to Information by researcher Ken Rubin and shared with CBC News show that veterinarians working in Prince Edward Island and other inspection offices of the CFIA were under "pressure" to get the inspections for diseases and viruses done quickly.

At one point, documents suggest the CFIA got permission to jump the queue over other pending tests to speed up the process and sent batches of eggs to three federal labs across the country for testing.

The CFIA's mandate is to ensure safety in food animals and plants in Canada and in products exported to other countries.

• Salmon becomes 1st genetically-modified food animal approved in Canada
• Expansion of GMO salmon facility in P.E.I. approved 

More than six hundred pages of emails show the discussions between the CFIA and AquaBounty, a Massachusetts-based company that is producing the world's first genetically modified salmon for human consumption. It is also exporting fish eggs to other countries for research and for fish production.

AquaBounty salmon are genetically altered to grow faster. They are sterile and grown in landlocked tanks in Prince Edward Island and Panama.

The salmon were approved for human consumption in May, 2016 in Canada, but leading up to that approval, AquaBounty was negotiating its first major permits for genetically modified salmon eggs for export to China, Argentina and Brazil for research. It was also seeking new permits to send eggs to Panama for commercial use.

'Pressure' on inspectors

Canadian food safety inspectors set up a schedule to conduct four "disease freedom tests" on hundreds of fish eggs before they were granted export permits.

But documents suggest the plan resulted in a scramble for CFIA inspectors to test the salmon eggs. Meanwhile, it appears they were facing "pressure" from AquaBounty, which needed to meet its export deadlines. The documents show top officials at the food safety regulator were concerned over the short time frame and pressure from the company.

"I am wondering if you are aware of the status of the Export Certificate of salmonoids … The stakeholder rep. is bugging our inspectors in P.E.I.," said Samson OgunTona, CFIA'S National Operations Veterinary Specialist, in an email from January, 2016. 

A screenshot from the AquaBounty website showing genetically-modified salmon eggs. (AquaBounty web video)

"The exporter is putting tremendous pressure on Ops in Atlantic region to conduct testing for export," warned Michael Langlet, a policy and programme specialist, a month later.

Documents show AquaBounty was concerned that after its March 23 deadline, fish eggs would start hatching and would be useless to its customers. It sent regular e-mails to CFIA inspectors about the tests.

"When will the results be available on the last set of samples?" an employee at the company asked the CFIA in March as the deadline loomed.

"Is there anything I can do to assist this process?" asked the company representative; at one point the person offered to help write the export labels for its products.

CFIA: prompting 'not unusual'

The chief regional inspector in Atlantic Canada, David Cameron, says discussions with the exporter are just part of the process.

"It's not unusual for us to receive some prompting from industry ... regardless of commodity, to facilitate those exports," said Cameron in an interview with CBC.

AquaBounty didn't respond to CBC's questions by deadline, but in an email exchange with CBC News on Jan. 3, the company denied it was improperly pressuring the federal regulator.

"We had eggs with a limited shelf life (i.e., viability) that needed to be shipped by a certain date and we had provided CFIA with all the information required to obtain the permits," said Dave Conley, AquaBounty's director of communications wrote in an email.

"We were only asking CFIA to do their job and complete the process in a timely manner."

AquaBounty has been approved to sell genetically-modified salmon as food in Canada and the United States. The company says once its salmon is harvested it cannot be distinguished from regular salmon. (AquaBounty)

At one point, it appears the CFIA gave permission to one of its Newfoundland veterinarians to put the salmon eggs at the top of the testing priority list.

"Karla had asked and received permission for those samples to jump 'queue,'" wrote the CFIA's national manager, Joanne Constantine.

The CFIA's David Cameron says AquaBounty didn't get any special treatment.

"It's not necessarily jumping the queue. This is a very perishable product and in the interest of preserving its integrity and its viability … exports take priority over imports and depending on the commodity and perishability," he said.

But the documents also show the CFIA was keenly aware of the commercial impact of the exports.

The federal veterinarian responsible for testing at AquaBounty Farms, Jean MacLean, wrote in an email, "There is pressure to get testing done for export purposes for this operator on a very short timeline."

"I asked my Inspection Manager ...about it as this has a very large commercial impact," she said in the email contained in the documents.

It appears it was also an issue for one of the CFIA's top veterinarians.

"CFIA is aware of the urgency which Aquabounty has concerning these negotiations. CFIA addresses these negotiations as a trade issue priority for Aquabounty, and is addressing these negotiations as a priority," wrote Dr Douglas Aitken, national operations veterinary specialist.

'Great deal of back and forth': critic

The coordinator for the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network says the CFIA appears to have lost sight of its main job — to impartially test for product safety.
    
"The CFIA was spending a great deal of time and resources facilitating this product," said Lucy Sharratt in an interview with CBC.

"It's not the government's responsibility to make sure that AquaBounty can move its products around. The responsibility in this case is to make sure the products are safe when they're moved around."

Sharratt's group acts as a watchdog on genetically modified products and fought unsuccessfully in court to try to stop approval of AquaBounty's salmon.

She thinks the emails show the CFIA was heavily influenced by the company's schedule to get its products quickly tested for export.

• The basics of genetically modified food
• ANALYSIS | Experts, public split on safety of GMOs

"There was a great deal of back and forth with many people over the testing and the timeline of the testing. And the types of pressure put on labs to jump the cue. That there was some sort of an allowance made for AquaBounty because of this time frame," said Sharratt.

She also wonders about how much the CFIA was influenced by the company and the economic value of the controversial product.

"It is a concern that departments are not prepared to deal with the type of corporate pressure that can be brought to bear on them from companies, she said.

"How to make sure that staff can do their jobs in the context of the right mandate without becoming advocates for companies."

But David Cameron says the CFIA doesn't cut corners when it comes to testing, no matter what the product.
 
"We would not endorse an export certificate unless we were sure that all of the health any safety factors were addressed by one method or another."

The exterior of the AquaBounty genetically-modified salmon facility. (AquaBounty)

According to the documents, between January and March 31 of last year, the CFIA approved all the new export permits for genetically modified salmon eggs for which AquaBounty applied.

It has approved three more export permits for AquaBounty since then.

[Gordon Bakke]

Mmmm....SALMON! Or...facsimile thereof....mmmm

Edited January 11, 2017 by Gordon Bakke

[Evelyn Kendall]

Once upon a time...my mother was into "Let's try this recipe from Gourmet Magazine!"  Salmon eggs (excuse me, roe) in jellied consume...served cold in her best crystal goblets.  To this day I can remember the taste/consistency   As they say in Panama "Guacala!" (or huacala if you prefer) Disgusting!  My dad used the leftovers to catch trout. 

[Keith Woolford]

This article appeared in both the Toronto Star and Washington Post this week.

About 4.5 tonnes of GMO salmon consumed in Canada so far, company says

AquaBounty produces a fish that grow four to six times faster than other Atlantic salmon and reaches market weight twice as fast.

Genetically modified salmon have been approved for sale in the United States, but labelling complications have prevented them from coming to market. In Canada, however, according to a report released Friday by the company AquaBounty, about 4.5 tonnes of genetically modified salmon filets have been sold so far.

Eric Hallerman, an expert in fisheries and fish genetics at Virginia Tech who is not affiliated with the company predicts that we will see many more genetically modified fish and other animals on shelves around the world in the future.

The AquaBounty salmon, called AquaAdvantage, is an Atlantic salmon that contains a growth hormone gene from a Chinook Salmon. In the wild, salmon produce the hormone only when the conditions are right for rapid growth. In the AquaAdvantage salmon, a regulatory switch from an ocean pout gene makes the fish produce growth hormone all the time, so the AquaAdvantage salmon grow rapidly throughout the year.

Read more:

Groups want hearings on proposal to grow world’s first genetically modified salmon in P.E.I.

GMO salmon coming soon to a grocery near you

Canadian scientist thrilled to the gills by U.S. approval of genetically modified salmon

These fish, which are raised in fish farms, grow four to six times faster than other Atlantic salmon early in life, said Hallerman, and they reach market weight twice as fast. This shortens the total production time from three years to a year and a half and reduces the amount of feed they consume by 10 per cent.

Fish farms can be established on land in tanks, or in the ocean in floating net enclosures. AquaBounty originally intended to produce the genetically modified eggs and sell them to commercial fisheries, which would grow the fish primarily in floating nets, said Hallerman. He was involved in assessing the potential environmental impact of this plan, and raised concerns about it.

The salmon eggs AquaBounty produces are all female, and their number of chromosomes has been modified to make them sterile, like seedless watermelons. However, this process is not 100 per cent successful, and Hallerman and others worried about the potential for these fast-growing salmon to escape and mix with wild populations. After raising these concerns with AquaBounty, the company agreed to address them, and, “they’ve stood by their word,” said Hallerman.

AquaAdvantage salmon eggs are produced in a land-based research facility on Prince Edward Island. If the eggs were to escape the facility, they would find themselves in salt water, where regulators predict they would be unable to survive. (Salmon hatch and develop in fresh water, then swim to salt water to spend most of their adulthood.) The eggs are then shipped to a land-based aquaculture facility in Panama, thousands of miles from the nearest Atlantic salmon population, where they grow to market weight. The FDA and Environment Canada conducted environmental analyses in light of these precautions and gave the fish the go-ahead.

Last month, AquaBounty purchased a fish farming facility in Indiana. The company plans to begin sales in the U.S. in the second half of 2019, Dave Conley, a representative told the Washington Post in an email. When regulations in the U.S. will actually permit sale of the salmon remains unclear.

The FDA approved the salmon in November of 2015, and Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency followed in May of 2016. Sales began in Canada in 2017, said Conley. Because Health Canada concluded that these salmon are “as safe and nutritious for humans and livestock as conventional salmon,” labelling was optional and left up to the discretion of the grocers who distributed the filets.

In the U.S., the regulatory landscape is less straightforward. When it comes to GM foods, “[regulators] found existing laws and stretched out the scope of those laws to cover biotechnology products,” said Hallerman, “and it’s awkward.”

In some other countries, such as Australia, whole new acts were drawn up specifically to cover biotech products. In the United States, square pegs were shoved into round holes. For example, because many genetically modified plants are generated using a modified version of a bacterium that can be an agricultural pest, these plants are regulated as plant pests. Genetically modified animals are regulated as drugs, which is why the Food and Drug Administration is responsible.

That could help to explain why these salmon, which were first developed back in 1989, are only now reaching the marketplace. Despite the 2015 approval, the salmon still hasn’t hit U.S. shelves due to a section in the congressional spending bill which requires that the FDA finalize guidance related to labelling before imports can begin.

The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Act (signed into law in 2016) charges the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates most meat and fish, with developing a national mandatory standard for disclosing the presence of bioengineered material in food by July 2018. But it is unclear whether the FDA will align its labelling guidance with the USDA’s. Further complicating the debate, Sen. Lisa Murkowski just this month introduced a bill that would require the salmon to include the label “genetically engineered.”

In the meantime, Hallerman said there are several genetically modified animals that have already been produced and are waiting for the salmon to carve their way through the regulatory landscape. In addition to other fish, these include cows and goats that produce nutritive compounds in their milk, disease-resistant livestock, mosquitoes that die before breeding, and more.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/08/04/about-45-tonnes-of-gmo-salmon-consumed-in-canada-so-far-company-says.html

Edited August 6, 2017 by Keith Woolford

[TwoSailors]

Reminds me one time I was in Whole Foods to purchase fresh wild caught fish. There were few selections but plenty of fish labeled farm raised. I asked the guy behind the counter which he sold more of? He said the farm raised because it is cheaper. He also said," Sir, one day, Farm Raised fish will be the only choice you will be able to buy!" That "one day" is coming here much quicker!

Edited August 6, 2017 by TwoSailors

[MarieElaine]

There are small farms that are growing "organic" trout, salmon and tilapia.  These fish take longer to grow and, because they spawn naturally, are seasonal.  In my opinion, GMO is not necessary if we all learn to eat what is available seasonally.  

[Keith Woolford]

Genetically modified Atlantic salmon produced by AquaBounty in Boquete from Canadian eggs have officially received their export license, although The Ministry of Health has yet to grant approval for national consumption.

A spokesperson says that no antibiotics or chemicals are used during the reproduction cycle in accordance with various governmental agreements.

The eggs take about 40 or 50 days to hatch into fingerlings which grow up to 150 grams in 4 to 5 months before being transferred to larger tanks for about 12 months where they fatten up to commercial weight of 10 to 12 pounds. It's expected that the facility will produce about 40 tons annually.

https://impresa.prensa.com/economia/Aprueban-exportacion-salmon-transgenico_0_5002749700.html

Edited April 8, 2018 by Keith Woolford

[Uncle Doug]

The stock price of Aquabounty soared more than 10% in after hours trading this weekend. 

[TwoSailors]

3 hours ago, Uncle Doug said:

The stock price of Aquabounty soared more than 10% in after hours trading this weekend. 

Uncle Doug,

What stock market exchanges are open on the weekends?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Uncle Doug]

1 hour ago, TwoSailors said:

Uncle Doug,

What stock market exchanges are open on the weekends?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't really know.  But Dow futures trade long before the stock market opens Monday morning. Those are trading somewhere. 

But look what happened Friday evening after hours:  https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/aqb

That's more than a 10% increase over the NASDAQ closing bell price.

Edited April 8, 2018 by Uncle Doug

[Keith Woolford]

Maker of GMO salmon says it sold 4.5 tonnes in Canada this year but won't say to whom

Michael Drapack · CBC News · Posted: Sep 06, 2018 9:14 PM ET | Last Updated: 9 hours ago

 

Prepared sashimi products are where you're likely to find genetically modified salmon in Canada, the CEO of AquaBounty Technologies, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company that produces the fish, told investors Thursday.

Ron Stotish wouldn't say exactly who is buying the company's product but did tell a group of investors meeting in New York that it has sold 4.5 tonnes of it in Canada so far this year.

This is on top of the roughly nine tonnes that were sold last year.

There is no requirement in Canada for the fish to be labelled as genetically engineered, so unless the company does it voluntarily there is no way for customers to tell the difference between non-GMO salmon and AquaBounty's product.

"The people who bought our fish were very happy with it," Stotish told the investors. "They put it in their high-end sashimi lines, not their frozen prepared foods."

Salmon was 1st genetically engineered animal approved as food

To date, AquaBounty is the only company in the world producing genetically engineered Atlantic salmon. Its product, which was originally developed at Memorial University in St. John's, was the first genetically engineered animal approved for sale as food in Canada in May 2016.

The salmon, patented under the name AquaAdvantage Salmon, is engineered to grow at twice the rate of regular salmon, using 20 to 25 per cent less feed than farmed salmon.

AquaBounty CEO Ron Stotish, seen in 2010, wouldn't say who in Canada was buying the company's salmon, only that they were using it in 'high-end sashimi lines.' (Charles Dharapak/Associated Press)

Genetically modified food products are not required to be labelled as such in Canada, but some advocates say it's high time they were.

"This is an untenable situation," said Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biodiversity Action Network. 

"The fact that, once again, the company has let slip a piece of information to investors — but is information Canadian consumers need and don't have — exposes how much it is that Canadians need labelling."

• Canadians already eating genetically-modified salmon

• AquaBounty, GMO salmon producer, applies to expand production on P.E.I.

A 2017 Angus-Reid survey suggested that 83 per cent of Canadians believe some genetically modified food products "should be subject to mandatory labelling in grocery stores, though the consensus is somewhat less clear on which types of GMOs ought to be subject to the rules."

Fish is grown in Panama — from Canadian eggs

 

AquaBounty salmon begins life in Prince Edward Island. A growth hormone gene from a chinook salmon and another one from an ocean pout are spliced into the genes of an Atlantic salmon.

The eggs are shipped to a land-based facility in Panama, where the fish grow in tanks.

• AquaBounty genetically-modified salmon approved by FDA

AquaBounty is hoping to eventually grow the fish in North America. It has a facility in Indiana, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently blocking the importation of the salmon eggs from Canada, even though the FDA has approved AquaBounty salmon for sale in the United States.

A ruler indicates the size of GMO salmon compared to wild, bottom, and farmed, top. (AquaBounty)

"The company has indicated that it is fully prepared to comply with labelling requirements for its product in order for this process to conclude in the near term," AquaBounty said in an SEC filing in June.

Speaking to investors on Thursday, Stotish seemed to suggest the delay is more political than procedural. He singled out U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, who introduced the amendment prohibiting the import of the eggs needed to produce AquaBounty's salmon as well as co-sponsoring legislation mandating the labelling of genetically engineered salmon.

• MP says labelling all genetically modified foods could create unnecessary fear

• Canadians anxious but ill-informed about genetically engineered food

"She's concerned that we might compete with Alaskan salmon," said Stotish. "Her opposition gets her votes in Alaska."

Stotish suggested we can expect even more genetically modified salmon in the food supply in the future, though.

He told the investor conference that AquaBounty's Canadian buyer told him: "We'll take as much as you can produce."

AquaBounty had not returned calls from CBC News at the time of publishing.

Watch The National's 2013 report on the development of AquaBounty's genetically engineered salmon: