Non-GMO organic salmon.

When the Food and Drug Administration approved the commercial sale of genetically engineered AquaAdvantage salmon in November, the agency made an important stipulation: The fish could only be produced in Canada and Panama. Additionally, no label declaring that the salmon had been genetically modified would be required.

Now, critics of the fish, which would be the first-ever genetically engineered animal protein sold in the U.S., are leveraging the limited geography of production the FDA allowed to challenge the lack of labeling regulations—and pushing the day when GMO salmon steaks show up at the seafood counter further down the road. On Friday, the FDA issued an import ban on GMO salmon until labeling standards can be established, following a directive passed by Congress late last year. The ban effectively makes it impossible to stock and sell the salmon in the U.S. in the near term.
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When the FDA approval was announced last year, AquaBounty Technologies, the Massachusetts-based company that developed the fast-growing salmon, told TakePart that “it is too early to […]