From: Center for Food Safety [action@foodsafetynow.org] Sent: Friday, June 01, 2001 4:50 PM To: FDA Docket 01P-0230 Cc: president@whitehouse.gov; vice.president@whitehouse.gov; execsec@oc.fda.gov Subject: Keep GE Fish Off the Market! FDA Commissioner 5630 Fishers Lane Room 1061 (HFA-305) Rockville, MD 20852 RE: Docket No. 01P-0230 Dear Commissioner, I am writing you to express my serious concerns about the FDA's role in approving the commercial use of transgenic fish. Given the potential human health and environmental threats posed by genetically engineered fish, I urge you to reject any application seeking the use and marketing of transgenic fish. I am quite concerned about the potential impacts of these fish upon my and my children's health. Genetically engineered fish (GE fish) are new to the human food supply and present unknown risks to human health, including the potential impacts of significantly elevated growth hormone levels in these fish. The FDA's failure to require toxicological testing for these fish suggests that the agency's review process is favoring the biotech industry and not acting to ensure consumer safety. Moreover, the commercialization of these genetically engineered fish poses the potential for irreversible damage to the environment. Fish farms throughout history have repeatedly demonstrated that fish kept in ocean and freshwater pens escape from their confinements. There are compelling scientific studies documenting the potential for escaped genetically engineered fish to become invasive species that could cause permanent ecological damage to wild fish stocks as well as the wider marine environment. These new studies have shown that transgenic fish are more aggressive, eat more food, and will attract more mates than wild fish. The studies also show that although transgenic fish will attract more mates, their offspring will be less fit and less likely to survive. As a result, scientists predict that transgenic fish may cause some species to become extinct within only a few generations. When one species becomes extinct, other species will likely be affected. There are already 114 species of fish, including the Atlantic salmon that are listed under the Endangered Species Act. The FDA should not promote the introduction of another threat to our endangered fisheries. For these reasons, the approval of GE salmon and other GE fish for the consumer market is unnecessary and totally unacceptable! They pose significant risks to the environment and human health, and I strongly urge the FDA not to approve the current applications by A/F Protein and other companies. The FDA was established to protect the American food supply from unnecessary risks. I hope the agency remembers its mandate and gives my concerns and those of other members of the public serious consideration. Sincerely yours, Theresa Barke Theresa Barke 615 Amapola Ave. #3 Torrance, CA, 90501 CC: The President Vice President Dick Cheney FDA Commissioner Senator Dianne Feinstein Senator Barbara Boxer Representative Jane Harman Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald To the recipient -- this fax/email message has come to you via the Center for Food Safety web site -- a public tool for providing input on food safety issues. The user/site visitor had complete control over editing the content of this message. Thus, the opinions expressed in this message are not necessarily those of CFS or its parent organization, ICTA. Please contact CFS at (202)547-9359 or email office@centerforfoodsafety.org with any questions. Thank you. ___________________________________________________________________________ This letter was composed at www.foodsafetynow.org, a web site maintained by: The Center for Food Safety, 660 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Suite 302 Washington, DC 20003 PH: (202)547-9359 Fax: (202)547-9429 Email: office@centerforfoodsafety.org web: www.centerforfoodsafety.org