Last Monday I attended the Table Talk about the impact of GMO Animals. Admittedly, this is a topic that I know very little about. I am not very uneducated about the more scientific side of genetically modified foods, but I know enough to hold the opinion that they are a largely positive thing. Upon reading about genetically modified animals, however—specifically salmon—I was immediately a little bit skeptical.

As a self-described environmentalist, my first concern always lies in how something could negatively impact the global ecosystem. Introducing a fish to the environment that grows twice as fast could have potentially devastating effects on the entire food web surrounding it. After voicing this concern, however, I was informed that the company pioneering the effort to make these genetically engineered fish has put in many different precautions to prevent this exact scenario. The eggs are produced in a completely different hemisphere from the farm itself, and they are also triploid which effectively renders them sterile. Additionally, the farm is in central Panama, away from the coast. In the small chance that one were to escape the facility, it wouldn’t be able to reach the ocean anyway.

This fear assuaged, my next concern was for the fish themselves. What are the conditions like at these farms? Are the fish treated fairly? Though information is difficult to find, it seems (to me, at least) safe to assume that the answer is no. The industry standard not just for fish but meat tends to be sub-optimal for the animals. This is less a qualm with the genetically engineered salmon than it is for the food industry as a whole, however.

Despite this, I do hope that the GMO salmon reach the global market. They are a much more sustainable solution for getting protein, as other protein sources (especially beef) come with a huge carbon footprint. If used correctly, this could not only be a win for the reduction of overall emissions, but for the movement to end world hunger too. Unfortunately, the fact that these salmon have taken upwards of twenty years (and counting!) to reach US supermarkets makes me wonder if this might just be wishful thinking on my part.