Frankenstein Fish?

Many crops and livestock are genetically modified, with the future of fisheries in murky water, the potential of genetically modifying aquatic species is being investigated with studies on a variety of species already underway including salmon and trout in the United States and Canada and even Goldfish in China. Potentially it could increase the quantity and quality of produce from aquaculture available to consumers.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are defined as ‘being essentially transgenic organisms’ (Organisms that have had foreign genes inserted into their cells) by international agreements and national legislation. By genetically modifying species grown in aquaculture you are able to make them more adapted to a wider range of conditions, anti-freeze protein can be used to increase their tolerance of cold temperatures, increasing the area that they can be farmed in and therefore the quantity produced. Growth rate and disease resistance can be increased, improving the aquatic species chance of survival as well as improving the quality of the final product. By increasing the growth rate, farmers are able to increase turnover and profitability.

Before all of this can go ahead however, there are many factors to be taken into consideration. The environmental issues raised from GM aquaculture mainly concern the effects of the GMO stock escaping. There are fears that they could pose as competition in the local habitat and disrupt the local genetic diversity, having an adverse affect on the wild stock. Despite these concerns there are few real examples of any damage being caused by escapees of current GMO populations, many proponents of GMOs state the escaped fish will be domesticated and possess poor fitness levels. Therefore they will be unlikely to survive in the wild let alone compete with wild stocks. Although there is evidence that shows escaped populations are capable of establishing new breeding grounds, escaped Atlantic salmon are now found reproducing in British Columbia.

Specific trade requirements are required by the World Trade Organisation on GMOs. There is difficulty behind labelling however as some countries are against it, claiming it to be ‘ambiguous’. The issue has received large amounts of media attention although much of the information currently available is biased, factual information is available from organisations such as the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. The technology being used is said to have been thoroughly tested and safe and yet GMO opponents claim it will bring health and environmental disasters.

With many stocks in danger the use of GMO is looking like an ever more reasonable answer, globally at this moment in time there are more than a dozen transgenic fish species being developed for use in aquaculture.