Update: GM Salmon challenge-court hearing approval

It’s been a long battle for environmental groups seeking information on what might become the world’s first genetically modified food animal.

The US based biotech firm was quietly given approval by the Canadian government to proceed with development of GM salmon in 2013. When environmental groups discovered the approval by accident, they began efforts to find more information about the assessment and government’s subsequent approval.

The environmental groups have been advised the case will finally proceed to a hearing by federal court. They want the approval put off until clarification of the risk assessment and approval process has been done.

Karen Wristen is the executive director of Living Oceans Society, one of the groups involved.

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The company Aquabounty set up an operation on Prince Edward Island to put a gene from a different fish species into Atlantic salmon DNA.

The result is a larger and faster growing GM salmon.

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The environmental groups claim the government did not follow its own guidelines about environmental risks before giving approval to the project.

In a press release Ms Wristen said, “This risk assessment process has been anything but transparent.  The government’s assessment of this GM organism was done in secret and even now that the matter is before the courts we are struggling to access information about that decision.”

The lawsuit alleges that the approval of the GM salmon is in contravention of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA).

They say the government failed to consider all legally required information in granting approval.  The government also failed to notify the public about its decision to waive the requirement to consider information about the invasiveness of the organism as required by law,

A court date has not been set. The US biotech company is also currently seeking approval there for its GM fish, a process that is also contentious in that country.