If transgenic fish are approved in the US, Canada, or Chile, the first eggs will be available at the end of 2000, and the first fish could arrive in supermarkets by 2002. Regulatory hurdles So far, though, the regulatory hurdles have been significant. The Army Corps of Engineers, which regulates US coastal waterways, fears unforeseen environmental problems, and prohibits transgenic tests. So do Canada, Britain, and the treaty-based North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization. Mr. Entis argues his AquAdvantage product line is pro-environment, because it will accelerate the conversion to aquaculture, relieving pressure on wild stocks.
AquAdvantage fish grow faster so they require less food than normal fish-farm salmon.
This would make the industry more sustainable, he says. But environmentalists question that premise. They eliminate the whole process of species development, where the fittest survive. But in January the tide may have turned against aquaculture's opponents. The Washington State Pollution Control Board ruled that escaped Atlantic salmon from fish farms pose no threat to the habitat or survival of Pacific salmon.