January 15, 2025 — After 35 years, the genetically engineered salmon saga has ended. AquaBounty has closed its genetically modified salmon production facilities after losing millions of dollars trying to market a product for which there is no demand.
The AquAdvantage fast-growing salmon was initially developed in 1989 at Memorial University in Newfoundland, and AF Protein in Fortune Bay, Prince Edward Island, Canada, initially sought to bring to it to market. I started reporting on these fast-growing test-tube babies in 2000, when AF Protein reorganized and spun AquaBounty Farms, later called AquaBounty Technologies, into the U.S.— with headquarters in Waltham, Mass. The so-called Frankenfish, may not cease to exist, but the U.S. company, AquaBounty, has ceased its efforts to market the genetically engineered fish.
Since its creation, AquaBounty has burned through millions of dollars, trying to clear all the hurdles for FDA approval—including creating 100 percent triploid fish incapable of breeding. According to C. Greg Lutz reporting in Aquaculture Magazine in 2016: “The company reported net losses of $4.3 million for 2013, following losses of $4.4 million in 2012. Losses reported for 2011 and 2010 were $2.7 million and $5.3 million, respectively.”