"salmon" news and stories

As we reported back in June, genetically modified Atlantic salmon are on the fast-track to your dinner plate. Massachusetts-based biotech company, AquaBounty Technologies is expected to get the final FDA nod of approval for a salmon that has been genetically tweaked to boost productivity thanks to a growth-hormone gene from a Chinook salmon and a genetic "on switch" from an ocean pout.

If approved, the salmon would be the first genetically modified animal approved for human consumption. A coalition of environmental groups, including Food & Water Watch and Center for Food Safety, say the move is alarming and are strongly urging the FDA to reject the fish.

Last week, government scientists spurred debate over genetically modifying animals for food by going on record to say the AquaBounty salmon was safe to eat and posed no threat to the environment, according to a Washington Post article.

We can't help but wonder if Guido Rahr, president of the Wild Salmon Center in Portland, Ore., thought he was smack in the middle of ABC's hidden camera series, "What Would You Do?"

Rahr spotted Atlantic bluefin tuna on the menu at Sinju Restaurant's Pearl District location while having lunch, and proceeded to do exactly what groups like Seafood Watch, Environmental Defense Fund or Blue Ocean Institute encourage: he politely spoke up. And as a result, got himself banned from the restaurant. That's right, according to Rahr, they said he was no longer welcome at Sinju and would refuse to serve him.

In an email dated August 16, to Mike Chen of Sinju's management team, Rahr writes:

"I have been a regular customer of Sinju for years and the Wild Salmon Center has given Sinju quite a bit of business. So when I saw Atlantic Bluefin tuna on the menu, I felt it was important for Sinju to know that this is not just another declining species, but perhaps the most high profile endangered fish species on earth."

Rahr had been eating at Sinju for nearly a decade. The headquarters for his environmental group is located in the Ecotrust Natural Capital Center, across the street from the restaurant, and is home to several other conservation and sustainable development groups who share similar concerns about endangered species.

For you eaters who avoid farm-raised salmon and instead seek out wild-caught varieties, your job just got a little more complicated.

According to The Oregonian, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program has assigned a red "avoid" recommendation to wild-caught California and Oregon salmon, based on continued low levels of salmon returning to the Sacramento River. While that advice may seem clear cut, the change in recommendations can be confusing.

The avoid rating for Oregon salmon applies only to fish caught south of Cape Falcon. It does not apply to the entire state of Oregon. That's because there are two different salmon stocks being fished on the Pacific coast -- those that spawn in the Sacramento River, where stock levels have been troubled in recent years; and salmon fished from the Columbia River, thought to have moderately healthy population levels.

There's no doubt that bacon has become one of the trendiest food items in the last few years. Many of us have already had bacon in our brownies. Some of us have even had bacon in our bourbon in the form of Don Lee's Bacon Infused Old Fashioned (a.k.a. the Benton's Old Fashioned, named after the smokey bacon brand used) at New York's PDT bar.

You can infuse your own vodka or bourbon with bacon at home by adding an ounce of cooled smoked bacon grease to 750ml of spirit. I've seen people infuse their spirit from four hours to two weeks. After the infusion process, freeze the spirit to solidify the fat for at least a couple of hours, and strain with as fine a strainer as you can -- I use a micron filter, the kind used in fish tanks -- to remove any oily residue.

If you don't want to go through all that trouble, a commercial product was introduced on the market about a year ago called Bakon, a bacon flavored vodka from Black Rock Spirits in Seattle, Washington, that costs about $30.

If bacon isn't your thing, Alaska Distillery has just introduced its new Smoked Salmon Flavored Vodka. The distillery is located in the town of Wasilla, the home of Sarah Palin. Outside of Alaska, the first state to get it is Texas, but the distillers hope their vodka makes a show in California and Washington state soon.

Speed-to-market isn't just a slogan for manufacturing product. The concept is now being applied to genetically modified Atlantic salmon that grow to maturity in a 16 to 18 months, rather than the typical three years needed for conventionally farmed salmon.

According to an article in The New York Times, a Massachusetts-based biotech company, AquaBounty Technologies, has boosted the salmon's productivity by enhancing the fish with a growth-hormone gene from a Chinook salmon and a "genetic on-switch" from a related species, the ocean pout. That on-switch allows the salmon to continue making growth hormones during cold weather, something non-genetically modified salmon do not do.

According to a company press release, the Center for Veterinary Medicine (an agency within the FDA) has completed reviewing several sections of AquaBounty's application. The company has been seeking FDA approval for many years, and says it expects the formal process for approval of the genetically modified salmon to go forward.

AquaBounty says the genetically modified salmon will be made up of sterile females grown in closed-containment tanks, eliminating the risk of escapement or accidental reproduction with wild salmon.