Frankenfish

[snagged in outlet 3]

Eating GM food (plant or animal) has been linked to many health problems in humans. That's why European country's have put a moratorium on new GM products for human consumption.

This from The Center for Food Safety:

"A number of studies over the past decade have revealed that genetically engineered foods can pose serious risks to humans, domesticated animals, wildlife and the environment. Human health effects can include higher risks of toxicity, allergenicity, antibiotic resistance, immune-suppression and cancer. As for environmental impacts, the use of genetic engineering in agriculture could lead to uncontrolled biological pollution, threatening numerous microbial, plant and animal species with extinction, and the potential contamination of non-genetically engineered life forms with novel and possibly hazardous genetic material."

If I could avoid GM products for me and my family I would. We have no idea the outcome and it's all for profit, as usual.

SIO3

[Wayne SW/MO]

Atlantic salmon and chinook salmon are only distantly related,

True, but I believe they are very closely linked to Steelhead and some biologist believe they were separated in another period. If that's true then any west coast operation could endanger the Steelhead.

If its about world hunger than why not build a market for Asian carp? I've eaten canned common carp and they rival tuna and salmon. We certainly wouldn't miss the new Asian carp.

[Quillback]

I gotta laugh when they say they don't want to label this fish if it ever shows up in stores for what it is. I'm with you guys on this, there is too much risk involved here. And if this stuff starts appearing at Walmart, then it should be clearly labeled for what it is.

On a side note, I lived on the Pacific Northwest for 20 years, there are many Atlantic salmon farming operations going on there, I can remember one mass escape in Puget Sound where 60,000 3-5 lb Atlantics made a breakout (I think they tunneled under the fence). I caught one in the Skykomish river while steelhead fishing and they were caught all over in area rivers and in the Sound. Then they disappeared, there never were any proven reports of Atlantics successfully spawning in the wild from that escape or any escapes in the PNW. Not that it couldn't happen, but it's very unlikely.

On an even further side note, I also used to live in New England, used to travel up to the White river in Vermont (It's a beautiful river to fish if you're ever up that way, rainbows and browns and it also has a population of under fished and under appreciated smallies). But there's an Atlantic salmon hatchery on the upper White that has been in existence since 1970, they are trying to reestablish Atlantics in the White and other rivers in New England, I think there best return was a couple of hundered fish and that was 20 years back, Atlantics are a very difficult fish to reestablish even in their (altered) native habitat. Personally I think they should shut down the effort, but it's not a total loss, there has been and are continuing habitat projects and passage work done in the name of Atlantics that have benefited other fish species.

[Outside Bend]

Personally I think they should shut down the effort, but it's not a total loss, there has been and are continuing habitat projects and passage work done in the name of Atlantics that have benefited other fish species.

And atlantics

[eric1978]

It's a little difficult to explain, but grafted trees aren't much like the GM organisms discussed in the article. A grafted tree isn't a blend of genes like you'd find in a sexually reproduced organism (or these GM salmon), rather it's more like two discrete organisms in a symbiotic relationship- the scion wood producing food to nourish the rootstock, the rootstock providing disease resistance, drought tolerance, and food storage capacity. It makes sense, as the idea grafting is to produce fruit of uniform quality- i.e. without influence from other trees, including the rootstock.

Not only that, but grafted trees can only be reproduced through additional grafting...that is, they cannot perpetuate their genes through natural reproduction, i.e. seeds. If a grafted tree produces seeds, and those seeds germinate, it will only grow the original, generic version of the tree...a grafted tree's seeds do not carry the mutated version of DNA. On the other hand, these genetically altered fish can readily cross-breed with the true strain, and the gene pool would be immediately and irrevocably changed, so yeah, the analogy doesn't work at all.

[Fly_Guy]

They sure do look tasty. But they will escape, as they always do. And crossbreed as eric suggests. I don't mind some gm foods - increasing yeild via gm is probably the way world hunger will be eventually eliminated, but when you're talking about the potential to change an entire ecosystem, the costs outweigh the benefits. GM cows you can at least contain, and they won't breed with the 'natural cow population' if they escape.

[Wayne SW/MO]

increasing yeild via gm is probably the way world hunger will be eventually eliminated,

I suspect hell will freeze over before these fish reach areas where hunger exist.

[Fly_Guy]

I suspect hell will freeze over before these fish reach areas where hunger exist.

exactly - gm crops and livestock (cattle, goats, sheep ect...) will help eliminate world hunger. These fish wont, and at the same time pose a threat to the natural gene pool.

[flytyer57]

Maybe if the CEO's of these fish farm corporations would be held personally liable for any and all fish escaping from pens, we wouldn't have to worry about these genetically mutated fish escaping and destroying natural fisheries. The CEO's would worry more about fines and jail time than just saying they'll move on to some other corporation with their multi-million $$$ benefit package.

And what about the genetically mutated veggie seeds that somehow get blown around in the wind and pollenated by other genetically mutated veggie pollen? Can the corporate farms planting genetically mutated seeds be held responible for destroying the naturalist farmers crops???

If genetic mutation is going to cure world hunger, I see no sign of that happening now. Food prices are still sky high and getting higher. To end world hunger, these genetically mutated crops must become lower in price, not higher.

[Outside Bend]

And what about the genetically mutated veggie seeds that somehow get blown around in the wind and pollenated by other genetically mutated veggie pollen? Can the corporate farms planting genetically mutated seeds be held responible for destroying the naturalist farmers crops???

I actually heard a piece on NPR a while back about some litigation on that issue. Basically some organic sugar-beet growers sued adjacent landowners who were using GM, Roundup-ready seed, because the folks using GM plants couldn't prevent the organic produce from being tainted through pollination. The organic guys appear to have won.

I wonder if the same tactic could be used in the salmon situation- would wild salmon fishermen be able to prevent these GM fish from being used if the potential damage to their livelihood could be shown?