Genetically Modified Salmon Eggs Arrive In Indiana

Indiana’s first batch of genetically modified salmon eggs arrived last week – the first genetically modified animal to be sold in the U.S. for human consumption. The company expects the fish will hit the market next year.

The biotech company AquaBounty’s import ban was lifted in March, almost two years after it acquired the farming facility in Albany.

AquaBounty Technologies President and CEO Sylvia Wulf says Indiana’s first batch of genetically modified salmon eggs arrived last week – about 100,000 fish eggs rolled up in coolers at the end of May to be placed in the facility’s incubator.

“It is the final leg of the journey, which has been long and arduous for AquaBounty,” Wulf says.

READ MORE: A Fish Out Of (Fresh)water: GMO Salmon Making Ground In Indiana

The genetically modified salmon will be grown in land-based tanks for 16 to 20 months, faster than freshwater raised salmon, before going to market.

Wulf says the production of salmon in Indiana is part of a growing transformation in aquaculture.

“I believe that aquaculture is going to be the next form of agriculture that is brought to rural America,” Wulf says.

The company is also working to produce GMO trout and shrimp.