Wednesday, August 09, 2017

What's That In the Seafood Counter? It's Frankenfish!


GMO salmon, Frankenfish, were developed at Newfoundland's Memorial University so it's probably fitting that they've made their appearance first in Canadian grocery stores. Have you tried them? Let us know.

Canadian supermarkets have become the first in the world to stock genetically modified fish, and about five tonnes of GM salmon have been sold in the country in recent months.

The sales figure was revealed in the most recent earnings report of the US-based AquaBounty Technologies, whose hybrid Atlantic salmon – which contains a gene from a Chinook salmon and a gene from the ocean pout – has been at the heart of a heated debate over transgenic animals as food.

You're probably familiar with the Chinook salmon but I'm guessing not so much the ocean Pout. Here's what it looks like:

Hmmm, Delicious!

Relax, it only looks like an eel. It's a fish, sort of.

The salmon can grow twice as fast as conventionally farmed Atlantic salmon, reaching adult size in some 18 months as compared to 30 months. The product also requires 75% less feed to grow to the size of wild salmon, reducing its carbon footprint by up to 25 times, the company has claimed.

So, don't be glum, don't pout, have some... um, salmon, yeah salmon.

9 comments:

  1. What exactly is the complaining about gene modification based on? I've never quite understood except to note that it's just another example of anti-scientism.

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  2. It would be fairer if all gene modified products were labeled as such.

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  3. This isn't an issue of GMO tomatoes, Dana. It's GMO fish that, if they escape into the wild, could wreak havoc on native species. At the moment they have to be bred, hatched and raised in pens ashore but it remains a situation ideal for what Sir Martin Rees describes as "bio-terror or bio-error."

    Off our coast we raise Atlantic salmon in pens despite the risk that their species presents to our own local salmon - spring, pink, coho, etc. if the Atlantic farm fish escape. Once the genie escapes the bottle we have no means to capture it and put it back. They become 'invasive species' similar to Australia's experience with rabbits and cane toads.

    That's the problem.

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    Replies
    1. Unlikely, most genetically engineered creatures can't compete in the wild because the Changes humans made in them are for peoples benifit Not for a competitive edge.

      An example of this is that these fish are sterile, 98% are incapable of reproducing.

      They are also being raised in locations that are no where near Salmon, they'd have to learn how to walk on land to get to wild salmon.

      Truthfully the antiGMO lobby is as bad as the climate change deniers.

      Delete
    2. Unlikely, most genetically engineered creatures can't compete in the wild because the Changes humans made in them are for peoples benifit Not for a competitive edge.

      An example of this is that these fish are sterile, 98% are incapable of reproducing.

      They are also being raised in locations that are no where near Salmon, they'd have to learn how to walk on land to get to wild salmon.

      Truthfully the antiGMO lobby is as bad as the climate change deniers.

      Delete
  4. We can imagine feeding more of the planet but we aren't sure it's a very good or safe thing to do.

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  5. I tend to consider areas of education and expertise when reading the opinions of scientists.

    So I keep the salt handy when geneticists offer their opinions on the origins of the universe.

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  6. We have not seen anything yet!!!
    How else are we going to feed the masses to justify never ending growth and and population?

    https://sentience-politics.org/policy-papers/cultured-meat/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI59n_pbvL1QIVRmF-Ch3sHAYiEAAYAiAAEgLDI_D_BwE

    With cultured Ketchup no less!

    TB

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  7. May I add..
    Locally grown will take on a whole new meaning!

    TB

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