{"id":57423,"date":"2024-12-20T15:30:05","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T23:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foodrevolution.org\/?p=57423"},"modified":"2026-09-15T00:51:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T07:51:31","slug":"gmo-salmon-aquabounty-shutters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodrevolution.org\/blog\/gmo-salmon-aquabounty-shutters\/","title":{"rendered":"Genetically Engineered Salmon Production Ends as AquaBounty Shutters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally Published as a Press Release by Friends of the Earth<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Following decades of controversy, widespread market rejection, and legal and regulatory challenges, US-based biotechnology and aquaculture company AquaBounty Technologies announced<\/a> it will stop producing all genetically engineered (GE) AquAdvantage salmon, cull all its remaining fish, and close its last working facility.<\/p>\n

After selling its fish farm in Indiana earlier this year and putting its other major site in Canada up for sale (at Rollo Bay, Prince Edward Island), AquaBounty announced yesterday that it is shutting its remaining GE salmon facility in North America (at Bay Fortune in Prince Edward Island, Canada)<\/strong>. The company says it does not have sufficient liquidity to maintain the operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis company was propped up by the hype but had nothing of value to sell. Genetically engineered food is a losing investment,\u201d said Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.<\/p>\n

Genetically Engineered Salmon Pose Many Risks<\/h2>\n
\"Salmon
iStock.com\/mlharing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A growing body of science suggests that GE salmon may pose serious environmental and public health risks<\/a>, including potentially irreversible damage to wild salmon populations<\/a> critical to the livelihoods, cultural heritage<\/a>, and well-being of Indigenous and fishing communities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

AquaBounty was producing genetically engineered Atlantic salmon, the world\u2019s first commercialized GE animal food intended for direct human consumption. The salmon was engineered<\/a> with a growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon and genetic material from ocean pout.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe development of GE salmon violates Wild Salmon and all the human and more-than-human communities that Wild Salmon supports. Wild Salmon underpins our cultural, spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being as Indigenous Salmon Peoples. We need to build on this victory to ensure that no other company takes up the colonial project of genetically engineering salmon,\u201d said Carl Wassilie, a Yup\u2019ik biologist, co-founder of Salmonberry Tribal Associates, and organizer with the Block Corporate Salmon campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Consumer opposition to genetically engineered animals is high in the US and Canada. Polls<\/a> in the US show that many Americans believe GE animals for protein production are not an appropriate use of biotechnology. Most consumers<\/a> won\u2019t eat genetically engineered fish if it is available, and 95% of consumers believe genetically engineered food animals should be labeled<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Successfully Blocking the Sale of GE Salmon to Consumers<\/h2>\n

Due to environmental and health concerns, consumer rejection, and an ongoing campaign led by Indigenous peoples and environmental groups, grocery retailers, food service companies, and major restaurants committed to not selling genetically engineered AquAdvantage salmon.<\/strong> The marketing campaign was run by Friends of the Earth, Block Corporate Salmon, North American Marine Alliance, Community Alliance for Global Justice, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, American Anti-Vivisection Society, Center for Food Safety, and allies. The campaign moved more than 80 grocery retailers<\/a> to reject GE salmon, including Walmart, Costco, Albertsons, and Kroger; food service companies Sodexo, Aramark, and Compass Group; and restaurant chains, including Red Lobster and Legal Seafood.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenetically engineered salmon is unwanted, risky, and unnecessary,\u201d said Dana Perls, Food and Technology senior program manager at Friends of the Earth US. \u201cPeople deserve the right to know what they are eating and have made the choice to reject GE salmon. Instead of genetically engineered animals designed to fit into industrial systems, we need sustainable wild salmon that supports fishing, Indigenous communities, and our environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

AquaBounty\u2019s Legal Trouble<\/h2>\n
\"Modern
iStock.com\/Vladimir Zapletin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Public challenges in Canada and the US have long plagued the company. In 2020, a US federal judge ruled<\/a> that the FDA\u2019s approval of GE salmon violated environmental laws, in response to a lawsuit filed by environmental, consumer, and fishing groups, and the Quinault Indian Nation. This past September, the FDA released<\/a> an amended environmental assessment of AquaBounty\u2019s Bay Fortune and Rollo Bay facilities in Prince Edward Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s heartening to see we\u2019ve dodged this bullet. If AquAdvantage had made it to market, it would have set a dangerous precedent, opening the floodgates to more GE animal products. This is a false solution that distracts from the real issue at hand, which is unfettered corporate control over our food systems,\u201d said Jon Russell, organizing coordinator of the North American Marine Alliance.<\/p>\n

In a 2022 whistleblower report titled \u201cAquaBounty Exposed<\/a>,\u201d a former employee at the Indiana site shared evidence of food and worker safety violations, animal welfare concerns, and routine environmental and water contamination infractions.<\/strong> AquaBounty sold this US facility at a loss in July 2024.<\/p>\n

Shutting Down Farming Facilities<\/h2>\n

In February 2023, AquaBounty announced it was closing its second genetically engineered salmon production facility at Rollo Bay, Prince Edward Island. The building went up for sale in September 2024. The company is now also shutting down its smaller, remaining facility at Bay Fortune in Prince Edward Island, which it said would produce genetically engineered salmon eggs for its not-yet-built facility in Ohio.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf AquAdvantage had made it to market, it would have set a dangerous precedent, opening the floodgates to more GE animal products.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jon Russell, Organizing Coordinator of the North American Marine Alliance<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Construction of the Ohio operation has been on hold since 2023, and the company has been selling equipment from the site. Recently, AquaBounty announced<\/a> it is looking for \u201calternatives for our Ohio farm project.\u201d Residents have fought the proposed Ohio project<\/a> for years, raising concerns about groundwater contamination.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope these announcements ring the death knell for AquaBounty\u2019s proposed facility in Pioneer, Ohio. Over the last few years, we\u2019ve built a strong grassroots movement locally to oppose this facility. Its operations would threaten the Michindoh Aquifer and St. Joseph River, key sources of drinking water for our communities in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan,\u201d said Sherry Fleming, organizer with the Williams County Alliance in Ohio.<\/p>\n

A Victory for People and the Planet<\/h2>\n
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A post shared by #Boycott #GESalmon (@blockcorporatesalmon)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n