GM Salmon - University of Houston Law Center Tech 2011/GM sal… · • GM salmon may be pests...

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

7,6758,309

8,8019,150

682 791 978 1,2621,650

2,521

5,978

6,909

Estimated (millions) Projected (millions)

Population by Region

0

2,500

5,000

7,500

10,000

2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

(mill

ions

)

Asia Africa EuropeLatin America Northern America Oceania

Northern America

2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

319

335

352

368383

398410

421431

440448

*excludes Mexico

Consumption Rates

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

1965 1975 1985 1998 2015 2030

3500344033803206

30652947 305029402803

265524352358

Average Daily Per Capita

kilo

calo

ries

(fo

od c

alor

ies)

Global Industrialized Countries

Global Total Daily Consumption

0

7.5

15

22.5

30

1965 1975 1985 1998 2015 2030

25.3

21.4

16.7

12.8

9.917.86

tera

calo

ries

(10

^12

calo

ries

)

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) or related industries

• from “pests” or “any organism…allied”

• regulates pest “articles” – harbor “pests”

Animal Protection


• prohibits “export” via “move”

• “export” – extra territorial or interstate move

• “move” – includes “release to environment”

Animal Protection


• 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 of nonindigenous species through ballast water or other pathways


• 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



• “aquatic nuisance species” nonindgenous species that threatens diversity and abundance of native species or ecological stability of infested waters, or commercial, aquacultural…activities



• creates inter-agency task force to identify and prevent the nonindigenous and nuisance aquatic species



• 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


• 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

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GM Salmon - University of Houston Law Center Tech 2011/GM sal… · • GM salmon may be pests...

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