GM Salmon Why GMO? output from fisheries has effectively hit a - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

GM Salmon

Why GMO?

• output from fisheries has effectively hit a

ceiling since the mid-1980s

• any growth in seafood consumption is due

to aquaculture

• improving aquaculture output to keep up

with growing populations, appetites, preferences

World Population

1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050

6,909 7,675 8,309 8,801 9,150 682 791 978 1,262 1,650 2,521 5,978 6,909

Estimated (millions) Projected (millions)

Population by Region

2,500 5,000 7,500 10,000 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050 (millions)

Asia Africa Europe Latin America Northern America Oceania

Northern America

2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

319 335 352 368 383 398 410 421 431 440 448

*excludes Mexico

Consumption Rates

1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 1965 1975 1985 1998 2015 2030

3500 3440 3380 3206 3065 2947 3050 2940 2803 2655 2435 2358

Average Daily Per Capita kilocalories (food calories)

Global Industrialized Countries

Global Total Daily Consumption

7.5 15 22.5 30 1965 1975 1985 1998 2015 2030

25.3 21.4 16.7 12.8 9.91 7.86

teracalories (10^12 calories)

25.3 teracalories = .106 exajoules (1018 joules)

Energy Consumption

Relative Energy

1 Day Consumption (2030) Tsar Bomba (50 megaton) Japanese Earthquake (9.0 Richter) 1 Month Consumption (2030)

3.18 1.41 0.2 0.106

exajoules (1018 joules)

Aquaculture

Aquaculture Issues

• Solid Waste and Effluent Pollution
• uneaten food and waste fall to the ocean

floor and build up

• bacteria attempt to break down the

sediment, lowering O2 in the water

• Baggiatoa form in absence of O2 and

HSO4 and CH4 are released through anaerobic decomposition – toxic

Aquaculture Issues

• Chemical Pollution
• antifoulants incorporated into the

materials of the netpens leach into the water – toxic to some sea life

• pesticides used to control parasites

effective at very low levels – deadly to crustaceans like the sea lice they seek to destroy

Aquaculture Issues

• Solid Waste and Effluent Pollution
• effluents rich in nitrogen and

phosphorous lead to algae blooms which die and add to the sediments below

• Chemical Pollution
• antibiotics active in water hundreds of

meters away from netpens for months – harmful to CNS, liver and promote antibiotic-resistance

Aquaculture Issues

• Escapees may
• compete with native species for space

and food

• may spread parasites or disease to native

species or other aquaculture facilities

GM Aquaculture

• fish grow more rapidly – food, pesticides,

antibiotics used at a greater rate and/or greater quantities as pens have higher turnover rates

• escapees may be significantly more harmful

due to their increased space and food requirements

Aquaculture Issues

• Escapees may
• interbreed
• hybridizatize

Existing Laws

• Animal Protection
• Nonindigenous and/or Invasive
• Major environmental laws

Animal Protection

• Animal Health Protection Act
• protects “livestock” (farm-raised animals)
• r related industries
• from “pests” or “any organism…allied”
• regulates pest “articles” – harbor “pests”

Animal Protection

• Animal Health Protection Act
• prohibits “export” via “move”
• “export” – extra territorial or

interstate move

• “move” – includes “release to

environment”

Animal Protection

• Animal Health Protection Act
• GM salmon may be pests through

alliance with actual pests (eg. sea lice)

• GM salmon may be “articles” as they

harbor pests or “disease”

• “disease” broadly interpreted by the

secretary…gene transmission?

Animal Protection

• Animal Damage Control Act
• originally passed to contol damage

from wildlife predators

• protects fisheries and aquaculture
• GM salmon may exhibit predatory

characteristics, causing loss to fishery and aquaculture operations

Nonindigenous/Invasive

• Nonindegenous Aquatic Nuisance

Prevention and Control Act

• purpose to prevent unintentional spread
• f nonindigenous species through ballast

water or other pathways

Nonindigenous/Invasive

• Nonindegenous Aquatic Nuisance

Prevention and Control Act, amended by National Invasive Species Act

• “nonindigenous species” any species or

viable bilogical material that enters an ecosystem beyond its historic range

Nonindigenous/Invasive

• Nonindegenous Aquatic Nuisance

Prevention and Control Act

• “aquatic nuisance species” nonindgenous

species that threatens diversity and abundance of native species or ecological stability of infested waters, or commercial, aquacultural…activities

Nonindigenous/Invasive

• Nonindegenous Aquatic Nuisance

Prevention and Control Act

• creates inter-agency task force to identify

and prevent the nonindigenous and nuisance aquatic species

Nonindigenous/Invasive

• Nonindegenous Aquatic Nuisance

Prevention and Control Act

• Michigan v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

(2010)

• multiple states – Michigan, Wisconsin,

Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania sued Corps to take action under prevent Asian Carp from entering Great Lakes

Nonindigenous/Invasive

• Executive Order 13112
• creates another inter-agency body –

the Invasive Species Council

• designed to prevent introduction of

invasive species and if introduced, respond to control their populations

Environmental Laws

• Clean Water Act
• individual fish (or humans/animals) are

not “point sources”

• netpens, however, have been found to be

“point sources”

• feces, urine, antifoulants, other additives,

pesticides, antibiotics – all “pollutants”

Environmental Laws

• Clean Water Act
• United States Public Interest Research Group
• v. Atlantic Salmon of Maine, LLC
• found non-native fish to be “pollutants”

within the meaning of the CWA

• proof that pollutant causes harm not

required

Environmental Laws

• Endangered Species Act
• potential takings due to effects of

aquaculture facilities in general, and in the estimation of some (GM salmon even riskier more resource-intensive than regular aquaculture), more pronounced

Existing Laws

Destructive Nonindigenous Neither Animal Protection NI or Invasive CWA ESA

Potential Criminal Penalties

• Thanks. Questions?