Safety of a transgenic or genetically modified salmon : the AquAdvantage salmon

5.

Effects on the local environments of Canada and Panama have not been considered and evaluated in this draft assessement because the US NEPA does not require an analysis of environmental effects in foreign sovereign countries, except insofar as it was necessary to do so in order to determine whether there would be significant effects on the environment of the United States due to the origination of exposure pathways from the production and grow-out facilities in Canada and Panama.

The potential hazards and harms addressed in this draft Environmental Assessment center on the likelihood and consequences of AquAdvantage salmon for the production of eyed-eggs and grow-out to market size :

1. The likelihood that the transgenic salmon will escape the conditions of confinement;
2. The likelihood that the transgenic salmon will survive and disperse if they escape the conditions of confinement;
3. The likelihood that the transgenic salmon will reproduce and establish if they escape the conditions of confinement;
4. The likely consequences to, or effects on, the environment of theUnited Statesshould the genetically salmon escape the conditions of confinement.

As the transgenic salmon would be produced and grown-out in secure facilities that have been verified and validated by FDA, the possibility that transgenic fish could escape from containment, enter the local environments of Canada or Panama, and survive to reproduce is extremely remote. In addition, because the production process for AquAdvantage Salmon would ensure that populations produced will be triploid (effectively sterile), all-female animals, the possibility of their reproducing in the wild is likewise extremely remote. Finally, the inhospitable environmental conditions around the egg production and grow-out facilities further reduce the possibility of establishment and spread.