P.E.I. groups call for public hearings on proposed GM salmon factory

Some P.E.I. organizations have written to Premier Wade MacLauchlan calling on government to hold Islandwide public hearings on a proposed factory in Rollo Bay that would produce the world’s first genetically modified (GM) animal for human consumption. AquaBounty, the American company with a research facility in Bay Fortune, has been researching genetically modified Atlantic salmon at that location since the 1990s. After decades of trying, the company finally received approval in Canada and the U.S. for the sale of GM Atlantic salmon for human consumption. AquaBounty has always stated that its GM fish eggs would be produced in P.E.I., shipped to Panama for grow out and processing. Earth Action, Council of Canadians – P.E.I. Chapter and Mackillop Centre for Social Justice said AquaBounty’s surprise new plan to produce both GM eggs and GM fish in P.E.I. is completely different from the proposal approved by the province last year to produce only non-GM salmon in Rollo Bay. Out of the blue, AquaBounty wants approval to radically change the purpose of the facility. Most Islanders would not have the technical expertise to critique AquaBounty’s environmental impact statement and the province doesn’t offer intervener funding for the public to hire experts. We think this process is wrong and completely inadequate given AquaBounty’s radical change in plans for the Rollo Bay facility and the potential implications for P.E.I., so we’ve asked the premier to slow it down and give Islanders the opportunity to discuss at public hearings whether this development is good for the province. The proposal to locate a GM fish factory in P.E.I. is more than just a run-of-the-mill business proposition. People all around the world are monitoring this unexpected situation in P.E.I. Islanders have many concerns and questions, aside from the environmental impact of the fish factory, that need to be discussed, including potentially serious economic impacts.

Sharon Labchuk, Earth Action co-ordinator and Leo Broderick, Council of Canadians – P.E.I. Chapter