Frankenfish: Man’s One-Two Punch in the Gut of Mothernature

Seemingly everyday lifestyle problems that humans encounter have been fixed to please both consumers and producers. Electrical cars made to address petrol prices, genetically selected cows produced for high milk yield and GO cards to reduce bus line ups. It would seem like a revolutionary breakthrough with the introduction of genetically engineered (abbrev. GE) salmon, ‘Frankenfish’ it has been named, that not only grows six times faster than farm-raised salmon but is twice as large and requires only three-quarters as much feed. Naturally, it’d be cheaper and more efficient for farmers and it would mean less wild fish would be killed for produce. The prices on Tasmanian Salmon will then be a pleasant sight for the sore eyes of Australian consumers.

However, the plight of wild salmon populations are at stake with the GE fish threatening their natural habitats and interfering with breeding. The industrial-style fish farming of the GE fish involves converting wild fish into fishmeal as feed. Also, fish from the farms have often escaped from their enclosed pens into the wild, leaving their wild counterparts to compete with the extra few hundred thousand GE fish for food with each escape. Cross-breeding with the GE fish also raises an issue as they are not bred for long term survival. These traits could be inbred into the next few generations of fish, causing a decrease in wild salmon populations instead of reducing the pressure on the wild salmon population.

So before rushing off to the next salmon special at the fish market, consider whether saving those few dollars in our wallets is really worth giving up the wild salmon population.

Written by 41435995

Primary Source:

Labriola, T. 2002. Transgenic Fish: Saviour or Sabateur? Vermont Journal of Environmental Law; April 2003.
http://www.vjel.org/editorials/ED10031.html.
Accessed 27 May 2008.

Secondary Sources:

http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/genetically-engineered-fish.pdf

http://fwcb.cfans.umn.edu/isees/MarineBrief/MBB_1.pdf