Date/Time
Date(s) - 27 Oct 2011
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Location
The Lantern, St. John's
Event on GM Fish Oct 27 in St. John’s – Public Forum including speakers from the U.S.
Thursday October 27, 2011, 7:00pm-9:00pm The Lantern, 35 Barnes Road (parking at The Basilica)
Canada and the U.S. could soon approve a genetically modified (GM) Atlantic salmon – the first-ever GM food animal in the world. The small U.S. company AquaBounty wants to produce GM salmon eggs on PEI, to grow-out in Panama and sell to U.S. consumers. What are the risks for wild Atlantic salmon? What’s happening in Canada? How are we at the centre of this controversy?
Speakers:
• Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, Ottawa • Eric Hoffman, Biotechnology Policy Campaigner, Friends of the Earth U.S., Washington DC • Jaydee Hanson, Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Food Safety, Washington DC • Leo Broderick, Vice Chair, Council of Canadians, PEI
Moderator: Ken Kavanagh, Council of Canadians St. John’s Chapter
Other public forums will be held in Charlottetown Oct 24, Fredericton Oct 25, Halifax Oct 26. For more details: http://www.cban.ca/events
Presented by: Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, Center for Food Safety USA, Conservation Council of New Brunswick, PEI and St. John’s Chapters of the Council of Canadians, EarthAction PEI, Ecology Action Centre Nova Scotia, Fundy Baykeeper, PEI Health Coalition, Newfoundland and Labrador Environment Network, Friends of the Earth U.S.
For more information on genetically modified fish : http://www.cban.ca/fish
Summary:
The small US company AquaBounty is asking the U.S. to approve its genetically engineered (also called genetically modified or GM) Atlantic salmon for human consumption. The company claims its “AquAdvantage” salmon can grow to market-size twice as fast as other farmed salmon. The Atlantic salmon are engineered with a growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon and genetic material from ocean pout (an eel-like creature) based on research from Memorial University.
The company is not asking for approval to grow the fish in the U.S. but plans to produce all of its GM salmon eggs on PEI, ship the eggs to Panama for grow-out and processing, and then sell “table-ready” GM salmon to U.S. consumers.
AquaBounty does not yet have permission from Environment Canada to produce GM salmon eggs at it’s PEI facility but the department refuses to say if it is currently assessing a request from the company. Health Canada also refuses to say if AquaBounty has asked to have the GM salmon approved for human consumption in Canada. There are no public consultations.
Any risk of GM Atlantic salmon escaping into the wild is unacceptable, especially when Atlantic salmon are already in danger of disappearing. Join us to discuss these and other important questions – Come out to hear who is making the decisions, what is happening in the U.S. and Canada, and how Atlantic Canada is at the center of the global controversy over GM fish.
For more information on genetically modified fish : http://www.cban.ca/fish