Genetically engineered fish farming project comes to a bad end.
February 26, 2000
New Zealand Salmon Research Halted
Filed at 5:06 p.m. EST
By The Associated Press
BLENHEIM, New Zealand (AP) -- A controversy involving leaked secret
documents, deformed fish heads and gargantuan salmon has ended with a
New Zealand company agreeing to kill all its genetically engineered fish.
More than a year after New Zealand King Salmon Co. Ltd. was first accused
of breeding mutant chinook salmon in the so-called ``Franken-fish'
experiment, the company announced Friday it would bury the remains of the
specially grown fish and suspend its research.
King Salmon's chief executive Paul Steere said the company made the
decision after it had successfully introduced an additional growth hormone
gene into chinook salmon and passed the trait down three generations.
He denied the decision to suspend the project was influenced by political,
ethical or scientific resistance.
Opponents of the project have fought for more than a year to stop it after
leaked secret papers showed deformed heads and other abnormalities had
occurred during the breeding program.
After receiving the new growth hormone gene, the salmon grew three times
faster than the normal rate. According to the company, the genetically
modified salmon could grow up to 550 pounds. Chinook, or Pacific king, the
largest species of salmon, grow to 110 pounds in the wild.
King Salmon has admitted some of the first-generation fish had developed
lumps on their heads due to apparent genetic deformities.
``All modified salmon have been killed and disposed of, in accordance with
(scientific) containment protocols,' Steere said in a statement.
The company said it would retain frozen sperm from genetically engineered
salmon ``at a secure location' so it was available to continue the program in
the future.
The company's experimental work was halted as the government prepared to
establish an inquiry into the project and its controls to prevent live salmon or
fertile eggs escaping into the wild.
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company |
