British aquarist bred illegal GM fish at home
GM fish have been sold illegally in the UK.
A Practical Fishkeeping reader has bred genetically modified 'glow-in-the-dark' fish that he purchased illegally from an aquarium shop in the UK.The reader, who has asked us to preserve his anonymity, obtained the fluorescent GM fish from an unnamed UK retailer where they were being sold as Red danios.
He claims that the fish were imported into the UK from the Czech Republic, where they are being bred, after breeders there obtained brood stock smuggled in from Asia.
The reader believes that the fish are definitely genetically modified, and not dyed or colour-fed as previously suggested by some suppliers; something that one Czech breeder of the GM fish has confirmed from his images.
Our source told Practical Fishkeeping online: "Though not for the purist, they are indeed a very striking fish. The adults have not faded in colour since I got them some weeks ago. There is no difference in their colour at any time, even when spawning, when the same intense colour prevails.
"I have also spawned them and am raising a few, mainly to see what the offspring are like. The fry are still very small, but they do appear to have some red in them".
The Zebra danios, Danio rerio, contain a gene from a coral which produces Red Fluorescent Protein (RFP) which gives the fish a bright pink colour and causes them to fluoresce under UV lighting.
Contrary to early media reports when the fish were first introduced, the fish are not sterile, and with the exception of the additional gene, they are little different to commercially available Zebra danios.
The shop selling the fish had three varieties of genetically modified Zebra danio, including the standard striped form, a leopard variety and a long-finned strain.
DEFRA import ban on Red danios
As a result of an investigation by Practical Fishkeeping which raised questions over the techniques used to produce Red danios, DEFRA officials this month warned aquarium fish dealers that they risked prosecution if fish they imported turned out to be genetically modified. (See Aquarium shops warned about potential GM fish).Sarah Hugo, the Head of the GM Inspectorate said that until the results of DEFRA's investigations on the fish were available, fish importers should not import or trade in Red danios, or any other coloured or fluorescent danio varieties:
"The importation into, or the acquisition, release or marketing of any genetically modified (GM) organisms within the UK is prohibited unless a consent has been granted in accordance with Article 111 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990."
GM Inspectorate
Practical Fishkeeping spoke to Sarah Hugo, the Head of the GM Inspectorate, regarding the fish, and she said she was concerned about their sale:"Readers of Practical Fishkeeping and all other individuals keeping tropical fish should be aware that the acquisition, release, import and marketing of unauthorised GMOs in the UK and in Europe is illegal.
No GM fish have been authorised within either the UK or the EU as a whole. To keep and breed fish while being aware that they are genetically modified is in breach of the law and I would urge all persons concerned to refrain from such activities.
"I would also request anyone who is aware of individuals or retailers involved in such activities to provide details to the GM Inspectorate at the Central Science Laboratory on 01904 462223 (email gm-inspectorate@csl.gov.uk), or the Fish Health
Inspectorate at Cefas Weymouth on 01305 206673/4 (fish.health.inspectorate@cefas.co.uk).
"Anyone who has inadvertently bought what they now believe to be GM fish can contact the GM Inspectorate or Fish Health Inspectorate for advice"
German GM fish
Last week, German authorities confirmed that fish seized from dealers at an ornamental fish show in Kiel, were genetically modified. (See Illegal GM fish smuggled into Germany.)German authorities believe that the fish had been smuggled into the country from Poland, and that the original stock had originated in Asia.
Our source claims that the fish in Germany probably originated from the Czech Republic.
His Czech Republic contact, who has bred the fish and confirmed the identity of those in the UK as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), claims that breeders there have thousands of the fish.
"Czech breeders have thousands of them and are desperately trying to sell them, as the fines in the Czech Republic are very heavy for keeping, breeding and selling them."
GloFish
In the USA, similar genetically modified fish are sold legally by Yorktown Technologies under the trademarked name of GloFish. (See The GloFish).GloFish, which are covered by a patent which prevents others from selling them in the USA, were first bred in 2004 by another Practical Fishkeeping reader, Terry Wisener, shortly after they went on sale across the USA. (See Reader breeds GM fish.)
Alan Blake, the CEO of Yorktown Technologies, told Practical Fishkeeping that his company had worked very hard to responsibly manage the distribution of the fish in the USA and was very much opposed to the marketing of GM fish without the appropriate regulatory approval.
Blake said that the apparent flood of illicit GM fish was in no way connected to the sale of GloFish. Our sources indicated the fish had been smuggled into the Czech Republic from Asia, where they are legally sold in the Taiwanese aquarium trade.
Matt Clarke: 30.3.2007Views: Read 3,219 times
"Amazing but, actually, quite true. "
Posted by: Matt Clarke - 1 week agoDate: Sunday April 1st, 2007, 1:11 pm
"DEFRA doesn't cover Scotland. So are these fish legal to sell in my country then?
Odd how DEFRA has nothing on this animal on their web site.
So how are shop owners suppose to know not to import them?
"
Date: Monday April 2nd, 2007, 3:11 pm
"I spoke to the head of the GM Inspectorate about this story this morning. She confirmed that the fish are illegal throughout the entire EU. This means they are also illegal in Scotland.
As I stated in my earlier report, DEFRA contacted dealers and importers to inform them that they risked prosecution if they imported fish which later turned out to be GMOs.
I assume that the GM Inspectorate also work with the Scottish authorities to communicate issues of national importance. OATA also sent a warning letter to its members recently, and I know that at least some of the major Scottish retailers are OATA members. "
Date: Monday April 2nd, 2007, 3:22 pm
"I have seen them for sale in a garden centre near where i live quite regularly. Nobody seems to care as with so many dyed fish coming into the country"
Posted by: Holger Heidt - 5 days, 5 hours agoDate: Tuesday April 3rd, 2007, 9:22 am
"Seems a lot more humane than dying fish and I suggest they pose no harm to animal or human life. I'd rather buy them than parrot fish"
Posted by: Holger Heidt - 5 days, 4 hours agoDate: Tuesday April 3rd, 2007, 9:35 am
"i saw these fish on animal farm last night and doing this doesnt damage the fish and pesonally i think it makes the look better"
Posted by: Kyle Laurie - 4 days, 19 hours agoDate: Tuesday April 3rd, 2007, 6:31 pm
"I suspect the cat is well and truly out of the bag. It seems that red danios are popping up at various places in the UK up and down the country.
Since zebra/leopard danios are one of the easiest danios to breed it will surely now be virtually impossible to eradicate them, especially as they might well have been accidentally bred with non-gm zebras at farms overseas by now, meaning that apparently non gm-fish might turn out to be gm after all when you breed them and are surprised to get luminous fry. Fortunately, like all danionins, they are unable to survive in british waterways through the winter.
It is actually rather a relief that they have not been subjected to the indignities associated with dyeing. I was always a little sceptical about the dyeing as dyed fish are normally translucent and zebras are not in the least tranaslucent so I don't think dyeing would work with rerio. It may well be that some people are seeing Danio roseus and thinking it was dyed. The view that roseus were dyed pearl danios was fairly common in the '90s when they first appeared. Perhaps the best way to avoid this is to only keep wild caught zebra danios..."
Date: Tuesday April 3rd, 2007, 7:05 pm
"When I first wrote about these fish I was unsure whether they were dyed or genetically modified. I suspected that they were probably dyed, because we'd seen a rise in the number of dyed fish, and because I thought that some members of the aquarium trade would have had more sense than to deal in illegal fish. Sadly, I was wrong.
I would imagine that most of the trade are probably now well aware of the fact that these are GMOs, and I think they'd have to be pretty stupid to continue selling them. As I reported last month, DEFRA had already confirmed that it would prosecute those trading in the fish, if their tests confirmed that the fish were genetically modified.
Good point about translucency, Paul. I'd agree that this is true in the vast majority of cases - which is why glassfish and albinos tend to be favoured - some non-translucent fish can also be dyed. For example, the Parrot cichlids mentioned in this story are shown being injected with dye, so it does appear to be effective on darker coloured fish too. "
Date: Tuesday April 3rd, 2007, 7:14 pm
"To be fair Matt I, suspect that the a lot of these shops probably thought they were dyed fish in good faith or didn't even realise they were not "natural". There have been so many new danionins of late its a job keeping up!
After all, most order fish from a piece of paper that says Danio Sp this or Danio sp that with increasingly ludicrous pseudo names and if they see "NEW ** Danio sp Red/2 they are not to know in many cases. I dont suppose they were advertised as "Danio rerio var Illegal-GM Danger Radioactive" :-)
How many people in Defra or the aquarium trade, let alone the general public, could tell the difference between a GM rerio or a Dyed rerio or even a GM rerio and a Danio roseus?
After all, the first reaction I remember to seeing photos of Celestichthys margaritatus from several people inclduing myself was that it was an artificial fish or doctored photo!"
Date: Tuesday April 3rd, 2007, 9:36 pm
""I dont suppose they were advertised as "Danio rerio var Illegal-GM Danger Radioactive" :-)"
Good point, Paul! Yes, I can't imagine it can be easy for the retailers keeping up with the flood of danionins we've had in recent years. I'm sure that some of the people who obtained these may well have done so in good faith, not knowing that they were either dyed or genetically modified.
Call me a cynic, though, but I also have an inkling that some of them knew exactly what they were...
"
Date: Tuesday April 3rd, 2007, 10:05 pm
"Hi Matt,
the question that has to be answered is, does it make any sense to make the trade in these fish illegal. They don't suffer in any way, are no harm to humans or any other animal, and will not survive in the wild. So where is the harm. The anti-GM lobby mightn't see it this way but I would like to hear a valuable argument why these fish shouldn't be sold"
Date: Wednesday April 4th, 2007, 8:58 am
"Holger: Good point. I agree. These particular fish probably should not be illegal. Yorktown Technologies managed to get approval to sell similar GM fish in the USA. They were able to satisfy the American authorities that the fish did not suffer and posed little more risk to the environment than normal aquarium Zebra danios. If I recall correctly, California did not approve their sale citing ethical concerns.
My only real issue with the glowing fish on sale in the UK now is that they're not legal. It's not good for the trade as a whole if unscrupulous dealers break the rules. There's no reason why someone couldn't get marketing authorisation to sell glowing GM fish in the EU, though I am guessing that this would probably cost rather a lot of money.
Of course, there are other ways to genetically modify fish which have been suggested or attempted in the fish farming world. I can't say I agree with all of these, as some of them could pose a real risk to native fish stocks."
Date: Wednesday April 4th, 2007, 9:09 am
"Will these fish have to be culled, can't they just sterilise these fish, not kill them. it's still a life, illegal or not; although they should not be bred from."
Posted by: Rory Fentem - 3 days, 14 hours agoDate: Wednesday April 4th, 2007, 11:39 pm
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Website Editor, Matt Clarke, writes the regular Interesting Imports column on rare and unusual fish in the UK aquarium trade. He's kept fish for over 20 years and holds a degree, two higher degrees and two diplomas in fish biology, taxonomy and computational biology. |
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"April fool!"
Posted by: Ros Dyer - 1 week agoDate: Sunday April 1st, 2007, 12:22 pm