Newly Hatched Genetically Engineered Salmon Showcased in Albany

Thousands of genetically engineered salmon eggs hatched in New York, USA, which were shown to journalists who toured the AquaBounty Technologies facility just outside Albany.

"We believe in transparency, because there is this concern with genetically modified. We want people to see that (our) fish look like fish and how we care for and raise those fish. So in a limited, controlled environment, we want to be able to show people what we do and how we raise the fish," said AquaBounty CEO, Sylvia Wulf.

Pete Bowyer, who manages the AquaBounty facility, showed about 8,000 newly hatched salmon in alevin stage. "They're threadlike, about the size of the end of a thumbnail. You can make out eyes and movement, but they're not feeding yet, still living off of their attached yolk sac," Star Press reported. When asked about what he thinks of the term "Frankenfish" which is used by critics to refer to the GE salmon, Bowyer said that there is strong need to inform the "uneducated mob". The journalists also emphasized the biosecurity controls exercised in the facility which they described, "(there are) locked gates; surveillance cameras; sign-in/sign out logs; instructions not to touch the fish or equipment; white lab coats over street clothes; rubber boots; and multiple foot baths to disinfect the boots as you move between buildings."

Read an article from BIO SmartBrief and watch the video coverage from Star Press.