As a youth delegate at the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action Civics & Conservation Summit, I have focused on House Bill 100. This bill proposes the ban of cultivation of genetically modified fish in the state of Alaska.
Genetically modified fish can have a major impact on wild salmon, and they pose unknown risks to human health. No long-term studies have been conducted to determine the effects. Therefore GM fish cannot be considered healthy to eat.
Wild salmon are a major part of Alaska’s pride and economy; hurting our wild salmon destroys a major part of Alaska.
Natalie Wade
Juneau
Comments (6)
Add commentThe issue with GMOs isn't
The issue with GMOs isn't whether they're dangerous to humans--it's pretty darn easy to make sure a genetically modified organism isn't producing cyanide or some other harmful compound. The two main issues are ecological and social: GMOs can escape into the wild and wreak havoc on an ecosystem, and the corporations that own the GMOs can be very unscrupulous in their dealings with customers (or non-customers in the case of neighboring farmers whose crops can sometimes hybridize with GMO crops).
With genetically modified salmon, the issue is primarily that they may really mess up natural salmon populations.
good point p
Check out the following article on GMOs and how Monsanto is readying themselves to sue the entire State of Vermont if their legislature passes a bill requiring food producers and merchants to label their GMO products as such:
http://www.occupymonsanto360.org/2012/04/07/monsanto-threatens-the-sue-t...
Hatchery Salmon
Guess what, Hatchery Salmon are genetically modified, DO carry disease and do infect remaining wild stocks. There are probably no genetically pure wild salmon stocks left in Southeast Alaska.
@AH HA: hatchery salmon are
@AH HA: hatchery salmon are not genetically modified... I don't know where you get that idea from. When we talk about GMOs, we talk about genetic engineering, not selective breeding (eugenics).
@Art
Survival rates are selective when fish are incubated in hatcheries. only one or two generations of hatchery incubated fish are required to demonstrate significant population wide genetic alteration in the surviving population.
Read Science Daily Dec 19 2011;
"We've known for some time that hatchery-born fish are less successful at survival and reproduction in the wild," said Michael Blouin, a professor of zoology at Oregon State University. "However, until now, it wasn't clear why. What this study shows is that intense evolutionary pressures in the hatchery rapidly select for fish that excel there, at the expense of their reproductive success in the wild."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111219152508.htm