The world’s first genetically modified salmon has just been quietly approved for sale in Canada -- a chinook salmon spliced with eel to make it grow twice as fast.

Bringing GMO fish into Canada’s billion-dollar salmon industry is an economic catastrophe waiting to happen. Europe -- a prime importer of Canadian salmon -- is broadly opposed to GMO foods of any kind. If 45 per cent of Canadians have already sworn they won’t eat GMO salmon, what makes Health Canada think Europe would buy this stuff?

This is a whole new territory. Things are moving far too quickly and with far too little information. Health Canada has never approved an animal-based GMO food before, and there are a host of ethical, economic, and environmental issues that need to be properly taken into account. 

Health Canada: Reverse this reckless approval of GMO salmon until we’ve had rigorous scientific and public consultation.

The American biotech firm behind this freak salmon could put the entire industry at risk: other countries and markets will be rightly skeptical of its safety. It will jeopardize Canada’s hard-earned reputation for its world-class salmon stocks.

Without labelling to identify which salmon on the market is the new variety, the backlash against Canadian fisheries could be devastating.

Even with such far-reaching impacts, this GM salmon was approved without any public consultation. Significant risks have not been taken into account - such as if the fish escape their closed quarters and breed in the wild. We need to go back to the drawing board. 

Hundreds of thousands of SumOfUs supporters have fought global biotech giants like Monsanto who have tried to bring dubious products to market without proper oversight or consultation. In fact, over 50,000 of us pressured Costco to join the ranks of 60 other U.S. retailers who refuse to sell this product. But Health Canada hasn’t got the memo yet.

Make sure this GMO fish doesn't reach our store shelves. Tell Health Canada to reverse this decision.

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