AquaBounty's genetically modified salmon may soon be on plates in US restaurants or university cafeterias, the Associated Press reports.
To develop its modified salmon, AquaBounty added genetic material from other fish into Atlantic salmon so that it would grow about twice as quickly as usual, reaching full size within 18 months, the AP says. It adds that the company says that because the fish grow more quickly, it's more efficient as less feed is needed.
The firm developed the salmon in the 1990s, but only received regulatory approval in the US in 2015 and in Canada shortly thereafter. While AquaBounty's salmon has been on the market in Canada since 2017, it has yet to be sold in the US.
The AP now reports that restaurants or cafeterias may be the first to sell the modified salmon in the US. AquaBounty CEO Sylvia Wulf tells the AP that it would then be up to those facilities to decide whether or not to label the fish as genetically modified. "It's their customer, not ours," she says.
The AP notes that disclosure regulations for bioengineered food don't become mandatory until 2022 and even then don't apply to restaurants.