A3
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2019
Concerns raised over GMO salmon
The labels to read
‘bioengineered’
By COURTNEY FLATT
Northwest Public
Broadcasting
AquaBounty Technologies
By engineering a regular Atlantic salmon, front, with a Chinook
gene that instructs growth hormones, AquaBounty can
produce a faster-growing genetically modifi ed salmon, back.
Washington is latest
state to sue major
opioid distributors
By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Washing-
ton on Tuesday became the
latest state to sue major dis-
tributors of opioids, saying
the companies made bil-
lions of dollars while ignor-
ing signs of a growing cri-
sis fueled by addiction to
the drugs.
Attorney General Bob
Ferguson fi led the lawsuit
in King County Superior
Court in Seattle against San
Francisco-based McKesson
Corp.; Dublin, Ohio-based
Cardinal Health Inc.; and
Chesterbrook, Pennsylva-
nia-based AmerisourceBer-
gen Drug Corp. The compa-
nies shipped huge amounts
of oxycodone, fentanyl and
other painkillers into Wash-
ington and failed to comply
with requirements that they
identify suspicious orders
that could be diverted to
the illegal drug market and
report them to law enforce-
ment, he said.
“For years these compa-
nies illegally shipped suspi-
cious orders into our state,”
Ferguson told a news con-
ference. “Their conduct,
put quite simply, fueled the
state’s opioid epidemic.”
The attorney general’s
offi ce said Washington is
the 10th state to sue at least
one of the distributors.
Washington is also
among the states suing opi-
oid manufacturers like Pur-
due Pharma. In all, gov-
ernment entities including
states, cities and Amer-
ican Indian tribes have
fi led more than 1,000 law-
suits against drugmak-
ers, distributors and others
involved in the opioid cri-
sis. The fi rst test claims are
set to go to trial later this
year in a massive, consoli-
dated federal court case in
Ohio.
From 2006 to 2017,
more than 8,000 Washing-
ton residents died of opi-
oid overdoses — more than
died in car accidents or
shootings, Ferguson said.
During much of that time,
the companies were fl ood-
ing the state with more than
2 billion opioid pills, he
said.
The attorney general
highlighted rural Pend
Oreille County in Washing-
ton’s northeastern corner.
In 2014, he said, the com-
panies sent enough opioids
to the county to supply each
of its roughly 13,000 resi-
dents with dozens of pills.
The companies have
said they are taking steps to
help address the crisis and
noted that they fulfi ll pre-
scription orders placed by
properly licensed health
care providers.
is safe for the fi sh itself, and
the salmon meet the spon-
sor’s claim about faster
growth.”
Congress held off the
FDA’s ruling until guide-
lines were in place that
would label the fi sh as genet-
ically engineered.
The Center for Food
Safety argues a “bio engi-
neered” label does not meet
those guidelines.
Groups have raised con-
cerns over the environmen-
tal harm they say genetically
engineered salmon could
cause.
“Farmed fi sh escape.
Even though they’re in these
land-based facilities (in Indi-
ana), there’s still potential
for escape,” van Saun said.
“Once we have these novel,
new types of organisms out
there, there’s no way to call
them back.”
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given to us during this sad
time. We appreciate it so
much and we thank you!
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The salmon have been
genetically engineered to
grow faster than farm-raised
Atlantic salmon. The FDA
fi rst approved genetically
engineered salmon as safe
to eat in 2015. This was the
fi rst time the administra-
tion had approved a geneti-
cally engineered animal for
human consumption.
On
its
website,
AquaBounty says all its
eggs produce sterile females
“making it impossible
for them to breed among
themselves and with other
salmon. In addition, FDA
approval requires them
to be grown in physically
contained land-based sys-
tems, further reducing any
potential impact on wild
populations.”
According to an FDA fact
sheet, “The salmon are safe
to eat, the introduced DNA
Consult a
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Genetically engineered
salmon are one step closer
to winding up on store
shelves, after the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration
lifted an import ban. It’s
a move that’s concerning
to tribes, food groups and
environmentalists.
The new guidelines don’t
require labeling the fi sh as
“genetically engineered,”
rather the labels will read
“bioengineered.” The term is
a little less loaded, said Amy
van Saun, a staff attorney for
the Center for Food Safety.
“It might be a symbol that
says ‘BE’ or it might even be
a QR code that you have to
actually scan with a smart-
phone in order to get more
information to fi nd out if it’s
genetically engineered,” van
Saun said. “So it’s quite a bit
more burdensome. It doesn’t
really give people the infor-
mation on whether or not
the fi sh is genetically engi-
neered when they look at it
in the grocery store.”
The FDA will now allow
AquaBounty to import its
AquaAdvantage
Salmon
eggs to a land-based facility
in Indiana, where the salmon
can be grown for food.
Van Saun said the
fi sh could compete with
native salmon for food and
resources. They could prey
on native salmon. Or they
could interbreed and cause
genetic changes in wild
salmon.
“What concerns us the
most is potential expansion
into net pen aquaculture in
the ocean, which is how it’s
done. There will defi nitely
be escapes if that ever hap-
pens,” van Saun said.
Northwest tribes said
the FDA did not consult
with them about concerns
with genetically engineered
salmon.
“The FDA’s unilateral
decision, without tribal con-
sultation, is an alarming
signal that our sacred and
prized wild salmon is now
even more vulnerable to
external markets and eco-
logical threats,” said Fawn
Sharp, president of the
Quinault Indian Nation, in
a statement. “It’s unconscio-
nable and arrogant to think
man can improve upon our
c reator’s perfection in wild
salmon as a justifi cation and
excuse to satisfy corporate
ambition and greed.”
Valerie Segrest, a Muck-
leshoot tribal member and
executive director of Feed
Seven Generations, said
this move “has directly
attacked the life ways of
Pacifi c Northwest t ribal
communities.”
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sealants are a clear
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DMD, FAGD
503/325-0310
1414 MARINE DRIVE,
ASTORIA
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Eric J. Anderson - Funeral Director
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a complete list of Preventative
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