December 2, 2024 – The Government of Canada and the Government of Prince Edward Island (PEI) have announced $231,095 in new funding for the GM salmon company AquaBounty despite the company having shut down its GM (genetically modified) salmon production facility in PEI as well as its only other production site in Indiana, US. The funding announcement comes as the company is selling off its assets, continuing to lose share price value, and amid reports of company layoffs in Canada and rumors about the company’s future.
Today, critics of the GM salmon sent a letter to the Auditor General of Canada and of PEI and to the federal and provincial ministers of fisheries to object to this use of funds and request a review of government decision-making in funding AquaBounty.(1)
“This is a repeated irresponsible use of taxpayer funds. You’d have to be living under a rock not to see how much this company is struggling to make their controversial genetically modified salmon financially viable,” said Leo Broderick of the The Council of Canadians PEI Chapter which has been monitoring years of public subsidies to the company, “Our governments should not be propping up this failing company and their unwanted, unlabelled GM fish.”
The seafood industry media outlet UnderCurrentNews is reporting sources as saying that AquaBounty laid off twenty staff in PEI in October and “another handful” in November, while AquaBounty denies rumors that it is shutting down.(2)
“This company has been struggling for years to sell this GM fish that no one wants while cashing cheques from the public purse. I hope we’re close to the end this debacle,” said Sharon Labchuk of the local coalition GMO Free PEI.
In February 2023, AquaBounty announced it was closing its GM salmon production facility at Rollo Bay, PEI, and the building went up for sale in September 2024. In July 2024, the company sold its only other plant, in Indiana, US, at a loss. The company now has just a small research and development facility at Bay Fortune in PEI which they say will produce GM salmon eggs for the not-yet-built facility in Ohio, construction of which has been on hold since June 2023. AquaBounty has not updated its website to reflect the closures, further fueling rumours of the company’s demise.
In 2023, the Nasdaq stock market threatened to delist AquaBounty because its share price was below $1 dollar USD for 30 consecutive days. The company’s share price is now currently hovering around one dollar ($0.95 USD on December 2nd, 2024).
“Genetic modification is clearly not a sound investment. The use of this technology for food production is risky and extremely controversial,” said Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network which monitors the use of genetic modification (genetic engineering) in food and farming.
The government funds to AquaBounty are for “Adoption of new equipment to gain efficiency and increase production of the salmon hatchery incubation system.” Of the $231,095 announced, $99,949 came from the federal government Atlantic Fisheries Fund.(3) AquaBounty was one of 39 companies funded “to help improve quality, productivity and sustainability in the provincial fish and seafood sector”.(4)
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For more information:
Sharon Labchuk, Earth Action PEI +1 902 626 7327
Leo Broderick, The Council of Canadians – PEI Chapter +1 902 316 2921
Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network +1 902 2029 4906, coordinator@cban.ca
NOTES:
(1) Investigation request re funding for AquaBounty, Letter to Auditors General etc, from the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, December 2, 2024 https://cban.ca/wp-content/uploads/Investigation-request-re-funding-for-AquaBounty-Dec-2-2024-CBAN.pdf
(2) https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2024/11/19/aquabounty-lays-off-staff-as-company-denies-rumors-of-shutting-down/
(3) https://www.canada.ca/en/fisheries-oceans/news/2024/11/government-of-canada-and-province-of-prince-edward-island-fund-projects-under-the-atlantic-fisheries-fund.html
(4) https://www.canada.ca/en/fisheries-oceans/news/2024/11/government-of-canada-and-province-of-prince-edward-island-announce-funding-for-39-companies-to-help-improve-quality-productivity-and-sustainability.html
See CBAN’s media backgrounder, September 2024,
See the press release from October 2, 2024: GM Fish Factory in P.E.I. for Sale: Taxpayers Should Get Their Money Back
www.cban.ca/fish
The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) brings together 15 groups to research, monitor and raise awareness about issues relating to genetic engineering in food and farming. CBAN members include farmer associations, environmental and social justice organizations, and regional coalitions of grassroots groups. CBAN is a project of MakeWay’s shared platform. www.cban.ca/fish
GMO Free PEI is a coalition of community groups in Prince Edward Island that works with concerned islanders to stop the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The coalition has been active since 2001 and includes Earth Action PEI, The Council of Canadians-PEI Chapter, and the MacKillop Centre for Social Justice in P.E.I.