Note: This federal response to the FDA’s approval of genetically engineered (GE or genetically modified) salmon is an important victory for the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and all organizations working to bring awareness to the dangers of genetic engineering. Organisms are being genetically engineered to have new traits such as faster growth, herbicide tolerance and insect and disease resistance. Genetically engineered organisms create novel risks to the environment, biodiversity and local communities that requires rigorous analysis by governmental agencies using sound science that includes long-term assessments for safety. As is the case with the GE salmon, “the Court ruled that the FDA failed to consider and study the environmental risks of this novel GE fish.” Now more than ever, our planet faces increasing environmental threats that will only be exacerbated by replacing wild ecosystems with genetically engineered salmon, mosquitoes, trees or any other organism being engineered as a false solution to climate change, forest restoration, resource management, etc. It’s time that we take a look at whether or not our regulatory agencies are equipped to adequately assess genetically engineered organisms.
Theresa Church-Assistant Director, Global Justice Ecology Project
Federal Court Declares Genetically Engineered Salmon Unlawful
Center for Food Safety 5 November 2020
San Francisco, Calif.—Today, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruledthe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) violated core environmental laws in approving the genetically engineered salmon. The Court ruled that FDA ignored the serious environmental consequences of approving genetically engineered salmon and the full extent of plans to grow and commercialize the salmon in the U.S. and around the world, violating the National Environmental Policy Act. The Court also ruled that FDA’s unilateral decision that genetically engineered salmon could have no possible effect on highly-endangered, wild Atlantic salmon was wrong, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The Court ordered FDA to go back to the drawing board and FDA must now thoroughly analyze the environmental consequences of an escape of genetically engineered salmon into the wild.
“Today’s decision is a vital victory for endangered salmon and our oceans,” said George Kimbrell, CFS legal director and counsel in the case. “Genetically engineered animals create novel risks and regulators must rigorously analyze them using sound science, not stick their head in the sand as officials did here. In reality, this engineered fish offers nothing but unstudied risks. The absolute last thing our planet needs right now is another human-created crisis like escaped genetically engineered fish running amok.”
In 2016, Center for Food Safety (CFS) and Earthjustice—representing a broad client coalition of environmental, consumer, commercial and recreational fishing organizations and the Quinault Indian Nation—sued the FDA for approving the first-ever commercial genetically engineered animal, an Atlantic salmon engineered to grow twice as fast as its wild counterpart. The genetically engineered salmon was produced by AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. with DNA from Atlantic salmon, Pacific king salmon, and Arctic ocean eelpout. This marks the first time any government in the world has approved a commercially genetically engineered animal as food.
Visit Center for Food Safety for the full press release.