After FDA approval, GM farmer now concentrating on production at US farm site.
In a financial update, AquaBounty has stated that they don’t need to farm their brand of genetically farmed salmon in the middle of a Panamese jungle. The site was originally set up in 2008 as a demonstration grow-out location for AquAdvantage Salmon and 60.000 and 100.000 salmon per year were produced there.
AquaBounty said it chose the remote Panama site because it did not want to run the risk of its fish escaping and contaminating local salmon stocks
The FDA have now deactivated a 2016 import alert that prevented GE salmon from entering the U.S, clearing a path to allow for AquaAdvantage salmon eggs to be imported, and fish to be stocked and grown at company’s land-based facility in Indiana, USA.
AquaBounty financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, revealed that they had a net loss for the current quarter increased to USD 2.76 million (down from USD 2.45 million in the same period) with the commencement of production operations in Indiana.
AquaBounty CEO Sylvia Wulf stated: “We ended the first quarter on a very positive note with the FDA’s lifting of the Import Alert on AquAdvantage Salmon and the successful completion of an equity fundraise. The action by the FDA will allow us to stock our Indiana facility with our fast-growing salmon eggs, while the new funding provides us with the needed resources to improve our balance sheet and grow out our fish at both our Indiana and Rollo Bay farms.”
