SQS Firm Up Anti GM Stance – Fishupdate.com

STRICTER controls on the development of genetically modified (GM) salmon should be put in place to avoid “mistakes”, the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission (AEBC) has said.

In a report released this week, the Commission said it recognised there were concerns about farmed GM salmon escaping into the wild.

The report investigated the range of possibilities for GM salmon designed to grow two or three times faster than normal fish, citing the development of transgenic salmon in the USA. It said a ban on the commercial development of GM salmon and other fish should stay in place while questions remained over the environmental impact on wild stocks.

Its chairman, Professor Malcolm Grant, told a London news conference: “Once the salmon is in the wild, it’s in the wild. “What we can’t do is forecast accurately whether the effects will be detrimental or positive.”

Scottish Quality Salmon (SQS), responded by saying it had no intention of following the GM route. “The Scottish salmon industry’s quality assurance body re-confirms its opposition to the introduction of genetically modified fish stocks.

“Scottish Quality Salmon has a publicly stated policy of opposing the use of genetic modification in salmon production. There is no such activity on Scottish farms and, given the weight of public opinion, we can foresee no circumstance under which there would be in the future.”