Five years ago, the FDA's scientific advisers concluded that the genetically modified fish, known as AquaAdvantage salmon, is safe to eat and won't harm the environment. The FDAs 2015 approval only allowed for AquAdvantage Salmon to be produced at the two facilities the sponsor had described in its application: one in Panama and the other in Canada. The world's first genetically engineered (GE) animal, a fast-growing Atlantic salmon, is slated to hit the US market in less than a month. For example, our. forced genetic material from bacteria or viruses into plant DNA. AquaBounty's salmon is a genetic mixture of three different fish Atlantic salmon, chinook salmon and the eel-like ocean pout. The publicly listed company recently announced the pricing of its previously announced underwritten public offering, of 11,000,000 shares of common stock of the company at a price to the public of USD 2.50 (EUR 2.11) per share, which will gross proceeds of approximately $27.5 million (EUR 23.2 million). AquaBounty has raised its faster-growing salmon at an indoor aquaculture farm in Albany, Indiana. [1] Consequently, the amount of antibiotics given to transgenic fish may be higher than the amount currently given to farmed . This allows the salmon to grow to market size faster than non-GE farm-raised Atlantic salmon. Environmental, consumer, and health advocates have raised the alarm. Although the legal status of the AquAdvantage salmon is in limbo, AquaBounty, the Massachusetts-based biotech company that developed it, told The Counter it expects to harvest the fish from an Indiana facility in March, and bring it to market shortly thereafter. As the, in the world, aquaculture is becoming a major problem for the planet. It is the first genetically engineered (GE) animal to be approved for commercial production by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It does so because it contains an rDNA construct that is composed of the growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon under the control of a promoter (a sequence of DNA that turns on the expression of a gene) from ocean pout (another type of fish). The AquAdvantage salmon was created by inserting a growth-hormone gene from a Chinook salmon into the Atlantic salmon genome. AquAdvantage raises these GMO animals in land-based aquaculture facilities, otherwise known as factory fish farms. In compliance with requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the FDA evaluated the potential effects on the environment of the United States from an approval of the application related to AquAdvantage Salmon. . As a result, they grow faster than regular salmon; although they remain the same size as normal fish, AquAdvantage salmon grow to market size in just 18 months instead of the three years that it takes ordinary salmon to grow. affects their structure and function in a way that is analogous to how veterinary drugs affect them. As a result of this classification, unlike with GMO plants, there is no framework for evaluating the environmental impacts of GMO fish. On November 5, 2019, the FDA approved a supplemental application AquaBounty submitted to produce AquAdvantage Salmon eggs at a second Canadian facility. AquaBounty has raised its faster-growing salmon at an indoor aquaculture farm in Albany, Indiana. AquaBounty hopes to have its GMO salmon on the market as soon as 2020. 1. They can help lower food costs. of high-protein fishmeal, which is fed to farmed fish (along with fish oil, which also comes from other fish), it takes 4.5 kg (10 lbs.) AquAdvantage Salmon also require 25% less feed than a normal salmon. Aqua Advantage is Atlantic salmon injected with a growth hormone from the Pacific Chinook salmon. //