Genetically modified salmon developed in Canada ‘available for sale’: food agency

HALIFAX — The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says genetically modified salmon produced by a firm with a facility in Prince Edward Island is now “available for sale” in Canada, but when and where it’s being made available remains unclear.

The agency’s Marie Terrien confirmed in an email the fish can be sold unlabelled in Canada but also wrote today it’s up to U.S.-owned producer AquaBounty to indicate if the food is actually on supermarket shelves or in restaurants.

A spokesman for the company was contacted by The Canadian Press on Tuesday morning and had not provided comment as of this afternoon on whether the salmon being raised at an indoor facility in Rollo Bay, P.E.I., is now being sold by stores or the food services industry in Canada.

AquaBounty fish are Atlantic salmon injected with DNA from other fish species that makes them grow faster, with some estimates indicating they will reach market size at twice the speed of unmodified salmon.

Terrien says in her emails that the salmon have been evaluated by Health Canada and can be sold in the country without any labelling.

Mark Butler, an adviser for the conservation charity Nature Canada, argues that the products should be labelled and says his group remains concerned about the potential for the salmon to eventually enter wild environments and impact unmodified salmon stocks.