"The thing about GE salmon isn't just the creep factor. In short, the science is questionable and an open public process for approval almost nonexistent. Concerns about GE salmon include food and animal safety, environmental risk and potential impacts on fishing communities.

In 2001, AquaBounty, a Massachusetts-based firm with facilities in Canada, Chile and Panama, asked FDA to approve production of an Atlantic salmon spliced with genes from a Pacific chinook salmon and an eel-like fish called an Arctic pout. The goal is to allow fish farms to produce a faster-growing salmon. FDA is analyzing GE salmon as an "animal drug," of all things, which allows for a high level of secrecy.

It's unclear how much research has been done by the government, as opposed to AquaBounty. In fact, the agency responsible for protecting our nation's fish, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), is only allowed a "consultative" role in the evaluation."

Get the Story:
Dale Kelley: Engineering salmon is cause for concern (The Anchorage Daily News 11/15)