Labs Don't Have to Report 'Frankenfish' Escapes

[Guest guest]

Labs Don't Have to Report 'Frankenfish' Escapes

_http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10823.cfm_

(http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10823.cfm)

 

THE CANADIAN PRESS, March 6, 2008

 

 

Web Note: Ecological studies predicted that GM fish can eliminate native

species and then self destruct. I have included a current article on the lax

regulation of GM fish in Canada and an article pointing out the risks or

releasing GM fish to the environment that was published in 1999. That article

should

have been known by Canadian regulators along with many other studies showing

the clear risk of escaping transgenic fish. This matter is a matter of

International concern not just a local concern for Canadians. The widespread

spread of GM canola to conventional canola crops was acceptable to the

regulators

in Canada but the same lax regulation could readily lead to destruction of

the international fishery.

 

From the Toronto Star:

OTTAWA & shy; - Canada's rules for genetically modified fish are so lax that

labs don't have to report escapes into the wild, says an audit released today.

That means bigger, more adaptable fish engineered in labs could put the

natural variety at a disadvantage when they compete against each other for food

and territory, the audit by Canada's environment commissioner has found. And

because scientists don't have to disclose what they create in their labs, it

says, it's not known what sort of so-called `Frankenfish' might someday swim

Canada's water systems. " The result of these weaknesses is that the extent of

research under way in Canada and any accidental release of (genetically

engineered) fish may not be fully known, " the audit says. The Canadian

Environment

Protection Act of 1999 currently regulates biotechnology, but the audit says

separate rules for genetically modified fish could close some of the gaps it

found. " In our view, new regulations could address the weaknesses of

Canada's current regulations in this area, " says the report. " This includes the

need

to strengthen oversight of research and develop mandatory reporting

requirements for GE (genetically engineered) fish and for accidental releases

of

genetically engineered organisms into the environment. " Fisheries and Oceans

has

long conceded it needs separate regulations for the manmade fish, but the

department still has not drafted its own policy. And the audit says the

department no longer intends to. Although the department agreed with a

recommendation

in the environment commissioner's 2004 audit that a separate policy was

needed, officials later decided against it. " Department officials told us that

the 2004 commitment to revise and finalize a policy in response to our audit

was made without a full understanding of the applicable ... provisions, " the

audit says. Research on genetically modified fish began in the early 1980s.

Canada doesn't have its own commercial farms for genetically modified fish, but

a U.S. company has had a Canadian subsidiary on Prince Edward Island since

1994. The company asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006 to allow

it to sell its fish as food. Canadian government officials say it's

reasonable to expect a similar request to sell the fish in Canada, the audit

says.