Defining environmental risk assessment criteria for genetically modified fishes to be placed on the EU market
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Summary
Project developed on the procurement project CT/EFSA/GMO/2009/01.
A review was carried out on behalf of the European Food Safety Authority to define environmental risk assessment criteria for genetically modified fishes to be placed on the EU market.
The most common drivers for the development of GM organisms include enhanced disease resistance, growth and environmental tolerance and production of ornamental fishes.
Potentially, the most important routes by which GM fishes can enter the natural waters are escape or deliberate release during transportation, loss from research or experimental facilities, deliberate indiscriminate introductions to improve fishery performance, escape from commercial aquaculture facilities and perhaps vandalism.
The potential adverse effects and consequences from the release of genetically modified fishes into the wild vary according to genetic trait, but the main ecological effects are likely to be enhanced competitive abilities in resource acquisition for GM fishes over non-GM fish; increased predation by GM fishes on non-GM fishes; enhanced survival, somatic growth and reproduction of GM fishes over non-GM fishes under the same conditions; and facilitation of GM fish invasion in habitats that limit the non-GM conspecifics. The fish communities into which GM fishes are released is also an important consideration, with more severe effects likely where wild conspecifics are present.
Two complementary approaches were identified to determine the interactions of released GM fishes with non-GM wild fish in the wild: laboratory experiments and field trials using non-GM surrogate fish. Using non-GM surrogates confer a number of advantages, including the wide availability of existing studies on surrogates in wild situations.
A number of characteristics of the receiving aquatic ecosystem were identified as important for undertaking environmental risk assessments on GM fishes. These were used to develop criteria for assessing the potential impact of GM fishes released into the wild, and will help formulate methodologies to assess any impact.
Published: 30 December 2010
