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BACKGROUND
Aqua Bounty (Genetically Modified Salmon) started out as a Canadian (B.C.) company. Our network was introduced to it by German documentary film-maker Bertram Verhagg. Bertram came to Saskatchewan to collect footage of GM canola crops, one area of exploration in his film Life Running Out of Control.
CBAN, the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network took on official status by 2006. Their history is pretty amazing. https://cban.ca/about-us/history/
Our network gained the acquaintance of CBAN through the battle to stop the patenting (ownership) of life forms (Monsanto vs Percy Schmeiser, started in 1998, GM canola, worked its way up to the Supreme Court of Canada).
I was sooo impressed by the work of Lucy Sharratt, the Coordinator of CBAN, way back then and forever since. What a blessing she is!
Some of the GMO Salmon postings on my blog. Followed by today’s news, GM Salmon Shut Down.
I see TENACITY and INTELLIGENCE:
2012-12-21 Engineered Fish Moves a Step Closer to Approval, New York Times
2012-12-22 FDA Pushes to Release Genetically Modified Salmon into Environment
2013-02-12 A million signatures on AVAAZ petition to the US FDA to stop the licensing of GM salmon
2015-11-19 US approves GM fish. Is Health Canada next? GM salmon eggs to be produced in PEI.
2017-06-28 Breaking News: World’s first GM fish factory approved in PEI, plus action on GM alfalfa
2017-08-07 GM salmon sold in Canada
2019-02-04 Federal Court overturns controversial salmon farm policy, StarMetro Vancouver
2018-03-24 Why Farmed Salmon Are a Toxic ‘Junk Food’, Mercola
2018-03-22 Canadian government getting money from GM salmon sales
2019-02-22 GM Salmon, Special Update. CBAN
2024-10-02
GM Salmon Shut Down
US company AquaBounty has closed its genetically modified (GM or genetically engineered) salmon “tank farm” in Prince Edward Island and put the building up for sale. Currently, AquaBounty is not producing any GM salmon and has no working fish farm.
Our press release today: GM Fish Factory in P.E.I. for Sale: Taxpayers Should Get Their Money Back.
- Cliquez ici pour le communiqué de presse – L’usine de saumon OGM sur l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard est à vendre: Les contribuables devraient récupérer leur argent
Just four years after its first “harvest” of GM Atlantic salmon in Canada, AquaBounty is selling its on-land GM fish factory at Rollo Bay, PEI. CBAN’s member group GMO Free PEI confirms that the building is now shut. See the photos from PEI in our new factsheet along with a timeline of events and government funding: www.cban.ca/GMsalmonupdate2024
AquaBounty owes $2.2 million to the Government of Prince Edward Island from a loan provided to assist construction of the building that is now for sale. In total, over $8 million was invested by the federal and provincial governments through multiple grants and loans. In February 2023, AquaBounty announced that it would no longer produce GM salmon at Rollo Bay but in December 2023 the federal government provided AquaBounty with funds to support “scale-up” at Rollo Bay. In September 2024, the company announced that the building is for sale, however, in February 2024 the federal government gave the company another loan.
The Canadian facility was one of two sites run by AquaBounty. Both are now closed. The second, in Indiana, US, was sold earlier this year to the company Superior Fresh that only uses non-GM fish and non-GM fish food. AquaBounty says it will use funds from the building sales to finance construction of a bigger GM salmon factory in Ohio, however, construction in Ohio has been on hold since June 2023.
This was the first GM food animal sold in the world. There is no mandatory labelling of GM foods in Canada for consumers. The coalition GMO Free PEI has been actively working with CBAN to stop the GM Atlantic salmon for over 15 years.
For more information see our new factsheet at www.cban.ca/GMsalmonupdate2024
Donate today to support our work: www.cban.ca/donate.
Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator
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Sandra speaking.
- Sometimes “the food” gives me indigestion:
https://aquabounty.com/about-us
At AquaBounty, we believe savoring your favorite fish and helping save the planet should be one and the same. And that’s why we believe in using science and technology to help solve global problems, like food scarcity and climate change. As leaders in aquaculture, we are continually looking for new and innovative ways to share the seafood we love, while leaving our world a better place.
2. GMO, OTHER
2018-07-30 The mysterious case of Alberta’s rogue GMO wheat: Could it happen again? Calgary Herald
2015-06-11 GM Moths Field Release near New York Causes Outrage