GM Atlantic Salmon

recedite

FDA in the USA close to approving them for commercial release.

Once the eggs are sold commercially, they will soon lose control of where the fish end up. 95% are sterile (being triploid) but 5% are not.

The AquAdvantage salmon, as it is called, is an Atlantic salmon that contains a growth hormone gene from the Chinook salmon and a genetic switch from the ocean pout, an eel-like creature. The switch keeps the gene on so that the salmon produces growth hormone year round, rather than only during warm weather. The fish reach market weight in about 18 months instead of three years

What effect would this gene have on a salmon smolt living wild in an Irish river? I'm guessing it would be like switching off the hibernation trigger in a hedgehog; the creature would remain active in the winter, but being unable to find sufficient food, would most likely starve to death before the spring.

dodderangler

They'd pose a serious threat to our own fish in river systems as they'd have a much bigger appetite than our own fish and would soon prey upon everything that moves
This is also the problem with clubs releasing triploid trout into the rivers and lakes
They eat everything hit are easily controlled by anglers as try are a lot easier to catch than a wild brown trout and not many lads will release triploids

recedite

That's an interesting practical point; they are easier to catch because they are so hungry.

The science of this is that all salmon and trout eggs naturally start off triploid, but they normally ditch the spare chromosome in the early stage of development. If this process is artificially interrupted by heat or pressure treatment, the extra chromosome remains and the fish will be sterile. There are always a few (up to 10%) that slip through the process though, and are actually diploid, fully fertile, and capable of interbreeding with whatever local population they are introduced into.

In the case of the "triploid trout" introduced into Lough Owel, these are brown trout anyway, so the odd one breeding is not going to make much difference.

The aqua advantage salmon is genetically engineered to be a hungry beast even before it has been made triploid, so it will be a very voracious fish indeed.