AK-Sen: Mark Begich (D) Vs. Frankenfish, GE Salmon

So this was the big news from Alaska today:

http://www.usatoday.com/...

Tea Party favorite Joe Miller, who lost a closely watched 2010 election in Alaska, is back for another possible Senate bid next year.

The Republican attorney formed an exploratory committee so he could test the waters for a Senate race in 2014 against Sen. Mark Begich, a vulnerable Democrat.

In 2010, Miller defeated GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski for the party's nomination in Alaska — only to lose the general election when Murkowski ran as a write-in candidate. Murkowski's election was historic: She was the first write-in candidate to win a Senate race since 1954. - USA Today, 4/15/13

Don't get me wrong, I am always happy to hear that Tea Party wild card Joe Miller (R. AK) is looking to run again.  He'll make the GOP primary entertaining and make things easier for incumbent Senator Mark Begich (D. AK).  But that's not the news I wanted to talk about.  This is the news from Alaska that I wanted to talk about:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/...

The AquaBounty AquaAdvantage transgenic salmon grows two to six times faster than natural Atlantic salmon stock thanks to genetic engineering. It has been dubbed the “superfish” or “FrankenFish” by concerned advocates for Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) product labeling.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released an assessment of the genetically engineered (GE) salmon on December 26, 2012, reporting that the salmon does not pose significant environmental threats or threats to human health upon consumption.

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich and Sen. Patty Murray sent the FDA a letter expressing grave concern. Upon the senators’ request, the FDA extended the public comment period to April 26. The FDA will review comments before approving the product.

The senators write: “Legislation will be introduced in the 13th Congress to seek a more comprehensive environmental review of this and other genetically engineered fish, and require labeling of any such products sold in the U.S. so consumers are aware of what is on their dinner plates.” - The Epoch Times, 4/14/13

For those of you who don't follow this issue closely, here's a little background info on GMO foods like the Frankenfish:

http://www.prwatch.org/...

To create the GE salmon, the Boston-based public company AquaBounty Technologies inserted DNA from another salmon species and an eel-like fish into the genome of an Atlantic salmon. The new genes make the GE salmon produce growth hormone all year round instead of just for three months a year as they normally would. This helps them grow to market size in 16 to 18 months instead of the usual 30 months required for an Atlantic salmon.

To prevent any GE salmon from escaping into the wild, surviving, and reproducing there, AquaBounty will only produce female GE salmon, each with three sets of DNA instead of the normal two. Triploids, as organisms with three sets of DNA are called, are infertile. Therefore, producing only female, triploid GE fish should provide two mechanisms of preventing reproduction should any fish escape into the wild. (Obviously, it takes a bit of scientific tinkering to create an all-female triploid fish population and the process used to do this might make your stomach turn.)

AquaBounty will produce salmon eggs in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Then it will transport them to an inland facility in Panama, where it will grow the fish, harvest, and process them. The firm claims no live fish will ever enter the United States. - PR Watch, 3/19/13

GM foods are created in a laboratory where their genetic makeup is altered to yield desired qualities.  GM foods include corn, soybean, canola, and cottonseed oil; fruits; vegetables; trees and even salmon.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require special labeling for GM foods so you wouldn't know if you were eating GM foods.  Nearly 60% of processed food contain ingredients made from GM corn, canola, or soybeans, including ice cream, baking powder, salad dressing, chips, cookies, and pizza.  Here's a list of reasons why GM foods are alarming:

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/...

Greater use of herbicides:  Many GM crops are designed to be herbicide resistant, allowing farmers to use higher quantities without killing the crop.  Not coincidentally, companies that produce herbicide resistant seeds also produce the particular herbicide that their seeds are resistant to.

“Super bugs”:  Some scientist believe that planting pest resistant (Bt) GM crops will endanger other non-targeted animals and insects as well as speed up the evolution of insects that can withstand pesticides, creating “super bugs.”

“Super weeds”:  Still others worry that through gene flow and outcrossing, genes from GM plants designed to withstand higher doses of herbicide, harsh weather conditions, droughts, and pests could produce “super weeds.”  Allison Snow, a plant ecologist at Ohio State University says “genes flow from crops to weeds all the time when pollen is transported by wind, bees, and other pollinators.  There’s no doubt that transgenes will jump from engineered crops into nearby relatives.”  

Unintended harm:  Another environmental concern is that these more robust, resistant, and faster growing organisms will compete with other species for food and sunlight, damaging delicate ecosystems and reducing biodiversity.   For example, one of the concerns related to the AquAdvantage GM salmon is that they will escape into the wild and outcompete other fish for food, since GM fish grow twice as fast as natural salmon, eat five times as much, have less fear of natural predators, and can reproduce throughout the year. - Washington Times, 4/15/13

And these are just environmental concerns about the effects of GM foods.  There's also some very strong economic and health concerns about GM foods including gene transfer, outcrossing, rising prices of herbicides and pesticides and patent issues, just to name a few.  Plus here's another valid reason to distrust GM foods:

http://www.theatlantic.com/...

Part of the mistrust around GMOs stems from the companies that make them - Monsanto, Dupont, Syngenta - companies that have not always engendered the support of farmers. Monsanto in particular, having produced the toxic deforestation chemical Agent Orange during the Vietnam War and taken a strong hand with price fixing for small farmers has been vilified as the worst of corporate greed and indifference. Though Monsanto's culture has changed dramatically in recent years, these images take a long time to fade, and as its recent Supreme Court case against a farmer who tried to copy its seeds demonstrates, it still has an adversarial relationship with its customers. - The Atlantic, 3/22/13

And Monsanto is getting bigger:

http://www.truth-out.org/...

Apparently discontent with its more than $13.5 billion-plus in annual sales, genetic modification kingpin Monsanto has been trying for the past four-or-so years to extract billions more dollars from rival DuPont for alleged patent infringements involving its genetically-modified (GM) Roundup-Ready soybean technology. And the agri-giant has apparently achieved this goal, having recently settled its longstanding feud with DuPont in exchange for a massive $1.75 billion royalty payout to be delivered over the course of the next 10 years, according to reports. - Truth-Out, 4/15/13

Senator Begich has long been an opponent of genetically engineered food like Frankenfish and had pushed for legislation that would label Frankenfish:

http://alaska-native-news.com/...

An amendment to the continuing Resolution being debated in the Senate was filed yesterday by Alaska's senators, Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich. The amendment called for clear and unquestionable labeling being placed on salmon products that have been genetically modified.

This is the latest obstacle placed in the path of Aquabounty as that company moves to place their GM salmon on storeshelves for human consumption.

There is concern in many corners that the genetically engineered salmon that has genes spliced from eel pout and a growth hormone from Chinook salmon will elevate the potential for allergies and that the elevated levels IGF-1 growth hormone will increase the risk of colon, prostate, and breast cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration pushed through approval of the genetically engineered salmon during the Christmas break this past year and is currently in the public comment stage of the approval. It is expected that that approval will go through and GE salmon, affectionately nick-named "Frankenfish" will be on store shelves by next year.

“Alaskans deserve to know what is on their dinner plates, especially if it’s something that was grown in a science lab or was caught across the globe,” said Senator Begich. “With Alaskans world renowned stocks of wild salmon, every effort needs to be made to protect the hard-working fishermen selling a real, wild product from imposters trying to trick consumers.” - Alaska Native News, 3/19/13

Begich has even pushed for legislation that would ban Frankenfish:

http://dutchharbortelegraph.com/...

Genetically-engineered salmon known as “Frankenfish” would be banned under legislation introduced today by U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and the Coast Guard. Begich, who has been leading the fight against GE salmon since he came to the Senate, is introducing two anti-Frankenfish measures today.

“Alaska has been supplying the world with nutritious salmon for decades,” Begich said. “We cannot afford to experiment with the world’s largest wild salmon stocks without the certainty that these fake fish won’t pose a serious environmental risk, especially to wild salmon and their habitat. I am introducing these bills to prevent against science experiments ending up on the plates of Alaska families.”

The first of Begich’s bills make it illegal to produce, sell or ship GE salmon in the United States unless the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) finds it would have no significant impact. Begich is the lead sponsor of the bill, called the Prevention of Escapement of Genetically Altered Salmon in the United States (PEGASUS).

Late last year, Begich blasted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their findings of “no significant impact” on the proposal from AquaBounty Technologies to produce a hybrid Atlantic salmon modified with a Chinook salmon growth gene and an antifreeze gene from an eel-like fish, the ocean pout. Begich expressed serious alarm at the announcement and believes the FDA lacks the expertise to make such a finding without a thorough review of its impact on ocean ecosystems.

Begich is concerned about the potential impacts of the release of GE salmon into the wild, whether by accident or negligence, as has been the history of other invasive species. The FDA reviewed the AquaBounty proposal not as a food product but as a veterinary drug. Despite the precedent-setting implications of being the first GE animal approved for human consumption, the FDA only considered its limited production, not the more widespread production which would surely follow federal approval.

“The potential that genetically engineered salmon might escape into the wild, interbreed with wild stocks, and compete with those stocks for food would be a disaster not only for wild salmon, but also for the broader ecosystems in which they live,” Begich said. “The FDA lacks the expertise to judge the impact of escaped Frankenfish on wild salmon stocks but these potential impacts must be understood before its production is allowed.” - The Dutch harbor Telegraph, 2/7/13

Some super market chains have taken action in labeling genetically engineered fish like Frakenfish:

http://rt.com/...

Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Whole Foods, and Marsh are some of the stores that will refuse to put the frankenfish on its shelves.

“We won't sell genetically engineered fish because we don’t believe it is sustainable or healthy,” Trudy Bialic from PCC Natural Markets in Washington State told Consumer’s Union. “It is troubling that the FDA is recommending approval of AquaBounty’s salmon as a ‘new animal drug,’ subjecting these engineered creatures to less rigorous safety standards than food additives. That’s not a credible safety assessment.”

Stores like Walmart, Costco and Safeway, however, have not expressed any opposition to selling the mutant salmon, which is likely to be cheaper due to its expedited growth.

AquaBounty has been trying to obtain FDA approval for the frankenfish for the past 17 years, but their engineering has come with a wave of opposition from people concerned about the possible long-term effects of consuming a genetically engineered fish. The fish contains DNA from the eelpout, a ray-finned fish that resembles an eel with its elongated body. Scientists have long been studying the eelpout to see if it can be used to accelerate growth rates of other fish or even to preserve human tissue and organs. But if the FDA allows the mutant salmon on store shelves, it will be the first ever genetically engineered animal deemed safe for consumption. - RT, 3/22/13

But Begich continues to fight to keep Frankenfish from being approved by the FDA and will continue to push for legislation to prevent people from eating the genetically engineered fish.  If you wnat to get more information on legislation Begich is drafting with Murray, please contact his office for more info and how you can get your Senator on board:

202-224-3004

And there's still time to submit your comment about Frankenfish to the FDA.  Please express your concerns here:

http://www.regulations.gov/...  

By the way, even if some nut like Miller is able to win the GOP nominee, Alaska Democrats are still going to take him seriously as a candidate:

http://www.dailykos.com/...

Though Begich’s 2009 vote in favor of national health care reform remains one of his biggest political vulnerabilities, he has positioned himself as a moderate on a range of issues and is supportive of gun owner rights and drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.

But despite the incumbent’s quiet strengths, newly elected Alaska Democratic Party Chairman Mike Wenstrup believes that Miller would be a surprisingly strong opponent, in part due to his avid base.

“It’ll be the biggest race probably in Alaska history,” Wenstrup said of the Senate bout next year. “We expect it to be similar to the race Sen. [Jon] Tester ran in Montana in 2012, with lots of outside money coming in and lots of negative attacks from these outside PACs targeting Sen. Begich. At the same time, we expect Sen. Begich to have a lot of support in the state.” - Real Clear Politics, 1/31/13

Plus the Alaska GOP is trying to disenfranchise Native American voters and Begich has called them out on it:

Many of the bill's critics say HB3 is unconstitutional as currently written and its implementation would disproportionately affect rural voters and Alaska Natives who can't obtain identification as easily as those who live in cities.

"The scheme that is set up in this bill discriminates, not by intention, not based on racial animosity, but by the way the government of Alaska has set up its division of services," Jeffrey Mittman, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, testified.

During a speech before a joint session of the Legislature two weeks ago, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich called the bill a part of a trend to make voting more difficult in Alaska.

Rep. Bob Lynn (R. Anchorage) said Begich was misinformed and accused the senator of not reading the bill before his speech. Begich has stood behind his comments.

A 2008 U.S. Supreme Court case ruled that voter ID laws are constitutional as long as the state provides residents the opportunity to obtain photo identification for free, according to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who testified last month about his experiences regarding that state's voter identification law.

Alaska does not offer free identification to all of its residents. HB3 would not require the state to issue free identification to a prospective voter. - Anchorage Daily News, 3/14/13

With all of that in mind, how about donating to Begich's 2014 campaign so he can continue to fight genetically engineered food like Frankenfish:

https://secure.actblue.com/...