The warehouse retailer Costco said it “does not intend to sell GM salmon at this time,” reports the Seattle Times. The FDA approved commercial sale and consumption last week of the AquAdvantage salmon developed by AquaBounty Technologies. The strain of Atlantic salmon grows twice as fast and eats less feed than conventional salmon, says the company. The FDA said the fish can be produced only at two facilities, one in Canada with breeding stock to produce salmon eggs and one in Panama to grow the salmon to marketable size.
AquaBounty spokesman Dave Conley said in an email, “It is too early to discuss commercialization plans but there are several paths to market that are being considered.”
Costco has 469 outlets, according to a Greenpeace report that says nine supermarket chains–Aldi,Giant Eagle, H-E-B, Hy-Vee, Meijer, Target, Safeway, Whole Foods and WinCo–with 15 percent of the 37,700 supermarkets in the country will not sell GMO seafood.