GM Fish (Hansard, 6 April 2001)

§ Mr. Alan Simpson
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the research programmes into fish genetics that his Department has been involved with in the last 10 years. [157275]

§ Mr. Meacher
My Department has funded a desk study and scientific literature review at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, to consider the environmental implications and risk assessment of GM fish. This work was published as a DETR report in November 1994; "Genetic Modification of Fish—a UK Perspective". ACRE has also published guidance (Guidance note 8, March 1997) for experimental releases and risk assessment of genetically modified fish.
Copies of both these publications are in the House of Commons Library.
Research into GM fish has increased steadily since the first published reports in 1985 and the technology now exists for the routine modification of a variety of fish species. Some modified traits may affect the ecological range of a fish species, for example increasing the temperature range in which they are able to survive and 323W breed, or the rate at which the fish grow and mature. The implications of such changes would need to be carefully considered in the risk assessment before a release could take place.

§ Mr. Alan Simpson
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list comprehensive risk assessment programmes the UK has conducted, under EU Directive 90/220 into the implications for human health and the environment following the potential release of GM fish stocks involved in UK-funded research programmes. [157271]

§ Mr. Meacher
There have been no applications to release GM fish under Directive 90/220/EEC in the UK. However the environmental consequences of the farming of genetically modified fish have been considered by my Department and by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE).
The Department of the Environment published a research report on the "Genetic Modification of Fish—a UK Perspective" in November 1994. ACRE Guidance Note 8, issued in March 1997, provides guidance for experimental releases and risk assessment of genetically modified fish.
The publications offer detailed recommendations on approaches to risk assessment and risk management for GM fish, and for emergency control measures. Guidelines are also provided for carrying out monitoring during and after the release.
Copies of both these publications are in the House of Commons Library.