This is Henry Clifford again. I would like to respond to the more egregious claims made by Tim Schwab in Message 80 regarding AquAdvantage salmon.
First of all, the growth performance data of AquAdvantage Salmon that has been widely publicized compares genetically modified triploid Atlantic salmon to diploid and triploid commercial lines (from Atlantic Canada) of domesticated non-transgenic Atlantic salmon, not "wild type" Atlantic salmon, as Tim Schwab disingenuously insinuated.
Secondly, I have seen some of the marketing claims of growth rates in other commercial lines of Atlantic salmon, some of which are impressive, but until our GM salmon are tested side-by-side under identical rearing conditions and diets, it is speculative to claim that one line of salmon can outperform another. We have contacted a number of other salmon breeding companies in an effort to run comparison studies with their salmon lines, and unfortunately many of them cannot meet the stringent zoosanitary standards that Atlantic Canada requires for importation of live salmon products into Prince Edward Island for testing.
Tim Schwab fails to recognize that for fish farmers in developing countries, growth rate is only one of the economic drivers for profitable operation. Feed conversion is one of the most powerful economic drivers, and we have scientific evidence that feed conversions with AquAdvantage Salmon would be 0.1 to 0.2 FCR (feed conversion ratio) units lower than with conventional farmed Atlantic Salmon, especially in the closed systems which are advocated for AquAdvantage Salmon. We also have strong scientific indications that dietary protein is more efficiently utilized in AquAdvantage Salmon than in conventional non-transgenic Atlantic salmon. The combination of lower FCR and improved dietary protein utilization would dramatically lower production costs to the fish farmer.
Further, Tim Schwab made two factually inaccurate statements when he said "Even if GE salmon could demonstrate fast growth rates, which it has not, the product doesn't appear to be an accessible food source in developing nations." If Mr. Schwab had taken the time to examine the findings of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)'s analysis of our technical dossier, he would discover that we absolutely did demonstrate fast growth rates, which is one of the underlying claims that was satisfied in our application. Finally, a fast growing genetically modified salmon would be an accessible food source (and source of exports) in any developing nation which possesses suitable rearing conditions for our salmon, which is simply cold freshwater.
Henry C. Clifford
Vice President of Marketing & Sales
AquaBounty Technologies
San Diego,
California 92121
United States
Tel: 858 450-9487
Fax: (858) 450-9519
Email: hclifford (at) aquabounty.com
www.aquabounty.com
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