Environmental groups launch suit against FDA over engineered salmon

HALIFAX -- A coalition of environmental and fishing groups is suing the U.S. government for approving an Atlantic salmon engineered to grow quickly.

The salmon was created by AquaBounty Technologies in P.E.I. with DNA from three fish and is the first engineered animal approved for human consumption in the States.

The Canadian and American groups launched the suit against the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday.

The plaintiffs, including the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax, argue that the FDA ignored comments from nearly two million people opposed to the approval, and failed to analyse potential risks to wild salmon and the environment.

They say there is a risk the modified salmon could escape and threaten endangered wild salmon stocks.

AquaBounty plans to produce the salmon eggs in P.E.I. and grow them out in Panama, where they will be processed into fillets and shipped to the States for sale.