Ecological risk analysis and genetically modified salmon: management in the face of uncertainty.
The commercialization of growth hormone transgenic Atlantic salmon for aquaculture has become a controversial public policy issue. Concerns exist over the potential ecological effects of this biotechnology should animals escape captivity. From within an ecological risk-analysis framework, science has been sought to provide decision makers with evidence upon which to base regulatory decisions pertaining to genetically modified salmon. Here I review the available empirical information on the potential ecological and genetic effects of transgenic salmon and discuss the underlying eco-evolutionary science behind the topic. I conclude that data gaps and irreducible epistemic uncertainties limit the role of scientific inference in support of ecological risk management for transgenic salmon. I argue that predictive uncertainties are pervasive in complex eco-evolutionary systems and that it behooves those involved in the risk-analysis process to accept and communicate these limitations in the interest of timely, clear, and cautious risk-management options.
Department of Fisheries & Aquaculture, Government of Newfoundland & Labrador, St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, A1B 4J6; email: dmoreau@mun.ca ; Twitter: @darekmoreau.
Darek T R
DT
Moreau
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017753:Ecosystem; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000235:genetics*; D012474:Salmon / Q000235:genetics*
D019382:Human Growth Hormone
aquaculture; biotechnology; ecological effects; gene flow; invasion biology; transgenesis