Consumer, fisheries, and environmental groups have sued the agency over its approval of AquaBounty’s product.
he controversy over genetically engineered salmon is headed to court.
Several environmental, consumer, and fishing groups filed suit on Thursday against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over its approval of a lab-developed fish that combines genes from three fish species: Atlantic salmon, Chinook salmon, and Arctic eelpout.
The lawsuit contends that the FDA ignored advice from federal fisheries and wildlife scientists to delay or deny the application and made the approval “without disclosing or analyzing the significant environmental effects from this foreseeable expansion.”
These effects include the potential for the genetically engineered salmon to escape into the ocean and interbreed with wild salmon, compete with native fish for food and habitat, and spread infectious diseases that incubate in crowded fish farms.