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Background
Increased public demand for seafood and dwindling natural marine habitats have encouraged scientists to study ways that biotechnology can increase the production of marine food products, making aquaculture-the growth of aquatic organisms in a controlled environment-a growing field of animal research. Biotechnology allows scientists to identify and combine traits in fish and shellfish to increase productivity and improve quality. Scientists are investigating genes that will increase production of natural fish growth factors as well as the natural defense compounds marine organisms use to fight microbial infections.
An example is a salmon currently in development that has the capability of growing from egg to market size (6 to 10 lb.) in one to one-and-a-half years-about half of the two to three years it takes conventional fish. This new salmon could make fish farming more environmentally sustainable, decrease over-fishing of wild salmon and lower consumer costs.
- Key Points
There is a growing demand for aquaculture; biotechnology can help meet this demand.
- Aquaculture is the fastest growing sector of animal production worldwide, growing 91% from 1987 to 1997 and is helping reduce over-fishing of often severely depleted wild stocks. Today, about half of all types of salmon consumed are farmed and only 5% of Atlantic salmon consumed are from the wild.
- Biotech aquacultural research will hasten the development of high-quality, economical seafood, as well as protect stressed marine populations.
As with all biotech-enhanced foods, aquaculture will be strictly regulated before approved for market.
- The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has higher regulatory standards for transgenic fish than for other foods. Those seeking approval for a product must prove efficacy claims (if any) and meet safety criteria in the areas for human consumption, animal welfare, and environmental safety. Environmental risk assessment at FDA is governed by the National Environmental Policy Act and the regulations implementing NEPA adopted by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR Parts 1500 to 1508) and by FDA (21 CFR Part 25). The NEPA and CEQ obligations imposed on the agency are identical to those required of all agencies throughout the federal government, including the identical scope of environmental risk assessment. The agency's position on the scope of environmental risk assessment required to process new drug applications is detailed in its 1998 guidance: "FDA considers harm to the environment to include not only toxicity to environmental organisms but also environmental effects other than toxicity, such as lasting effects on ecological community dynamics."
- Some opponents of this technology consider "highly mobile" transgenic species, such as fish and mosquitoes, to be of some risk to the environment. The principal concern is that genetically engineered animals may escape into the wild and breed with natural populations, which may harm those populations and their environment. Those developing biotech fish seek to identify such risks and proactively work to minimize the factors that have the potential to cause environmental problems. With regards to fish farming and the production of enhanced salmon, some solutions to minimizing environmental risks include using sterile fish contained in ocean net pens to eliminate any potential issue with wild stocks.
Biotech aquaculture offers environmental benefits.
- Fallowing, or allowing a farm to lie idle between each new generation of fish, is the most powerful environmental tool available to fish farmers to protect water quality, marine sediments and aquatic health. Fast-growing salmon double the power of this tool by allowing farms to be fallowed twice as often as they are today.
- Other specific environmental benefits of aquaculture are several and include:
- Cutting in half the time required to raise salmon means supply can be increased without proportionately increasing the use of coastal waters;
- The increase in food conversion rates means that fewer natural resources are required to produce the fish, thus enhancing sustainability; and,
- The ability to grow fish very rapidly improves the economics of aquaculture so that land-based systems become economically viable and competitive with ocean-pen systems.
Contact
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health care, agricultural, industrial, and environmental biotechnology products. For additional information and questions, please contact the BIO Department of Food and Agriculture at 202.962.6647.
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