Genetically Modified Salmon

[Outside Bend]

Does anyone know if these GM salmon would be patented? I'm curious what the ramifications of patented genes showing up in "wild" fish would be...

[Tim Smith]

Does anyone know if these GM salmon would be patented? I'm curious what the ramifications of patented genes showing up in "wild" fish would be...

Yes. There is a patent.

The current fish has genes from an eelpout that normally turn on anti-freeze genes that have now been used to keep growth hormone switched on continually.

Studies have shown these fish have greater scope for growth and consume more resources. Once they attain larger size they will be much better competitors for space (salmonids attack each other continually as they compete for feeding stations and body size is the primary determinant of those interactions). These fish also die sooner under starvation conditions (conditions which are not uncommon in low-nutrient western rivers). Over time, this gene will compete heavily with wild fish for space and resources.

[Outside Bend]

Yes. There is a patent.

The current fish has genes from an eelpout that normally turn on anti-freeze genes that have now been used to keep growth hormone switched on continually.

Studies have shown these fish have greater scope for growth and consume more resources. Once they attain larger size they will be much better competitors for space (salmonids attack each other continually as they compete for feeding stations and body size is the primary determinant of those interactions). These fish also die sooner under starvation conditions (conditions which are not uncommon in low-nutrient western rivers). Over time, this gene will compete heavily with wild fish for space and resources.

Sorry Tim, what I was trying to get at is...

If GM salmon escaped and mated with wild stocks, and transferred these patented genes into streambred offspring...could Aquabounty then claim ownership of those wild fish with modified genes?

And if a commercial fisherman was unknowingly netting and selling GM salmon which had escaped or interbred with wild stocks, would they be violating any patent laws?

[flytyer57]

Sorry Tim, what I was trying to get at is...

If GM salmon escaped and mated with wild stocks, and transferred these patented genes into streambred offspring...could Aquabounty then claim ownership of those wild fish with modified genes?

And if a commercial fisherman was unknowingly netting and selling GM salmon which had escaped or interbred with wild stocks, would they be violating any patent laws?

Let's say you are fishing a nice salmon run on some northwestern river along the Pacific coast. You land what could be a new world record salmon after fighting the fish for an hour and a half. You are all worn out and the fish is so stressed that it litteraly dies. Then some guy in uniform comes up to you with a mobile lab and demands to take a DNA sample of the fish you just caught. The fish shows signs of having been reared by some genetically altered fish that escaped a fish farm 15 years ago. The guy in the uniform then hands you a ticket for several thousand dollars and confiscates your fishing gear for violating the patent that was granted several years ago, and upheld by the US Supreme Court on a 5-4 vote.

[3wt]

ehh, not the way it works.

Trying to compare this to the issues with monsanto is not apples to apples.

If the owner of the patent allows it's patented material to escape, it's on them or the person they sold it to that allowed the escape. That's not what happened with monsanto.

You have to realize that despite the alleged story of the defendant in the monsanto case(Percy Schmeiser), the judge found that he inentiionaly planted seeds illegally. If it had been determined that monsanto did not do their due dilligence to keep prevent the spread of the modified genetic material this would be a different story.

I know that this farmer has been the poster boy of monsanto's abuse, but the facts as determined by the canadian court and supreme court found that he did it on purpose or should have known what he was doing.

The genetic material is and should be a patented product.

[3wt]

If GM salmon escaped and mated with wild stocks, and transferred these patented genes into streambred offspring...could Aquabounty then claim ownership of those wild fish with modified genes?

And if a commercial fisherman was unknowingly netting and selling GM salmon which had escaped or interbred with wild stocks, would they be violating any patent laws?

Very doubtful on both counts. You can't be negligent with your patent and expect it to hold up. This is the very reason that Monsanto can't go easy on the litle guy and then turn around and sue big time offenders.

A patent claim would not be the same as them saying they own all fish that might have their gene. It would mean that anybody breeding fish would have to not use their genes, and if they were found to have the gene then it would have to be investigated to whetehr they did it intentionally, or allowed it to be done negligently. Since nobody is producing wild fish none of this should ever apply.

But I'm no lawyer, this is all just my understanding.