salmon
Costco won’t sell GMO salmon
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.
GE salmon a long way from US dinner plate despite FDA approval
For the first time, the FDA has approved the sale and consumption of a genetically engineered animal, the AquAdvantage salmon developed by a Massachusetts company. Although FDA approval is a signal achievement for the biotechnology industry - the first GE crops went on the market in 1996 - it could be years before fillets or steaks from the fast-growing salmon are sold in supermarkets.
Enviros sue Canada over export of GE salmon eggs
Environmental groups went to court in Canada in a bid to block a government-approved plan to produce genetically engineered salmon eggs in Canada for shipment to Panama, where they would grow into fish, says the Guardian.
Drought puts chinook salmon winter run in hot water
"One of the last wild runs of chinook salmon in California ... appears perilously close to oblivion," says the San Francisco Chronicle. Federal officials say "95 percent of winter-run chinook eggs, hatchlings and juvenile salmon died this year in the (Sacramento) River, which was too warm to support them despite conservation efforts." It was the second time in two years that most of the juvenile salmon failed to make it to the ocean. The high mortality rate could result in smaller water allotments to farmers next year and limits on commercial and recreational fishing. The winter run chinook salmon has been listed as an endangered species since 1994.
Senate bill would label GE salmon, block beef imports
Retailers would have to identify transgenic salmon as genetically engineered and imports of raw beef from Brazil and Argentina would be barred under the USDA/FDA funding bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
GMO labeling and a GOP family feud in Kansas
Rep Mike Pompeo, sponsor of a bill to pre-empt states from labeling of GMO foods, is challenged in the Aug 5 Republican primary in Kansas by his predecessor, Todd Tiahrt. The Topeka Capital-Journal describes it as "a GOP family feud punctuated by slash-and-burn denunciations. This is clearly a race capable of ripping Republicans apart."
Drought creates “a host of choices between terrible outcomes”
State regulators have reduced water discharge from Lake Shasta in Northern California in hopes of boosting the survival rate of juvenile fish threatened with extinction, says the Sacramento Bee.
Beavers are ally for salmon in dry California
After decades of being treated as a marine nuisance, beavers "could help ease the water woes" that pit farmers against fishermen in California, says the magazine onEarth.
Smaller amounts of omega-3 acid in farmed salmon
Farmed salmon "may contain as little as half the amount of omega-3s than it did a decade ago," says a Civil Eats story that also appears at Time.
A bit more water for Central Valley farmers
With California seeing its first major rainstorm of the season, the Los Angeles Times said, "Scientists have yet to determine whether the Eastern Pacific is falling into an El Niño pattern and will produce a wetter than average year...
New law bans GE salmon in California waters
Gov Jerry Brown signed a law that bans commercial production of genetically engineered salmon in California waters, says the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. The state already barred spawning, incubation, or cultivation of transgenic salmon in the Pacific Ocean.
California Senate may vote on GMO label bill this week
A bill to require labels on food containing GMOs was approved the a California Senate committee and could be called for a floor vote this week, says the Lake County News. State Sen. Noreen Evans said the bill, SB1381, is a response to consumer demand to know what is in food.