By Mike Urch, SeafoodSource contributing editor – 05 July, 2011 – It is hardly surprising that politicians from Alaska and Washington State are against the production of genetically modified (GM) salmon for human consumption. After all the north-west coast of the USA is one of the world’s largest salmon producing areas and voters there would hardly be happy if their Congressmen were not seen to be opposing such a move.
But was the recent decision by the US House of Representatives to prohibit the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from giving its approval a purely political gesture, or a genuine response against a technology which could dramatically reduce the time it takes salmon to reach market size?
With words such as ‘Frankenfish’ being bandied about it seems as though it was the former, but the vote could still be enough to seriously delay what could, and should, be an inevitable step towards increasing the supply of seafood for human consumption.
But this is only the latest instance of preventing an increase in the supply of seafood for human consumption to hit the headlines this year. The practice of throwing back into the sea perfectly edible fish because of European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) rules was highlighted on British television. It is to be hoped that Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki has the clout to stop this ludicrous process, although it will not be surprising if she bows to political pressure and fails to halt it completely when the new CFP proposals are announced.
Read the complete opinion piece from Seafood Source.