Environmental groups [headed] to court [Oct. 18] to challenge a Federal Court ruling which upheld the government’s earlier approval of genetically modified salmon.
. . . .
In 2013, Environment Canada approved the production of genetically modified salmon eggs by the biotechnology company AquaBounty in a facility in P.E.I.
AquaBounty claims its genetically modified Atlantic salmon egg — which uses genes from the eel-like ocean pout — allows the fish to grow twice as [fast].
The company said its plan was to produce the eggs in P.E.I. and export them to an operation in Panama to be grown into market-size fish.
In November 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the fish for sale as food, with Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency granting similar approval in May 2016.
In the meantime, Canadian environmental groups decried the decision and sued the government, alleging it did not follow its own rules and failed to obtain and assess the information required by the federal Environmental Protection Act.
In December 2015, a federal court judge rejected this initial challenge, and upheld the government’s approval.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Groups challenge federal approval of genetically modified salmon in court
