AquaBounty Technologies, which first secured approval of genetically engineered salmon in 2015 but faced relentless litigation and a lack of consumer acceptance, is shutting down its fish farming operations.
The company said it “will wind down its hatchery operations” in Bay Fortune on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, which is its only remaining operating farm. It also will cull all remaining fish.
There will be a “reduction of substantially all personnel over the course of the next several weeks,” David Frank, chief financial officer and interim CEO, said in a news release. “We prioritized maintaining operations at the Bay Fortune facility, but do not have sufficient liquidity to continue to do so.” Several senior management executives already have left.
AquaBounty has been “slowly scaling down its operations over the last year,” Center for Food Safety, an advocacy group that sued FDA over its approval of the fish, said in a news release. The group noted the closure of its Rollo Bay production facility on Prince Edward Island last year.
The "announcement proves what we have always said: that this dangerous product cannot both comply with environmental laws and become a commercial reality,” said Amy van Saun, senior attorney for CFS and counsel in the case.
In 2020, a federal judge in California said FDA’s approval of the salmon did not comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, and sent the decision back to FDA for a re-evaluation.
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U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria said in his ruling that FDA’s NEPA analysis “essentially stopped without assessing the possibility of harm to the natural salmon species in the unlikely event of [GE] salmon establishing themselves in the wild.”
In September, FDA issued a new environmental assessment under NEPA and a finding of no significant impact.
But the court decision had an impact on some large retailers, who said they wouldn’t sell the product.
Last month, the company reported a net loss in the third quarter of 2024 of $3.4 million, compared to a $6.1 million loss in the third quarter of 2023. The loss was smaller due to the sale of a farm in Indiana for $9.2 million. The company sold the Rollo Bay operation in September.
Frank said the company had tried for more than a year to raise capital, including selling its farms and equipment. “Unfortunately, these efforts have not generated enough cash to maintain our operating facilities,” he said. “We therefore have no alternative but to close down our remaining farm operations and reduce our staff.”
Former CEO Dave Melbourne voluntarily resigned, effective Dec. 6. Alejandro Rojas and Melissa Daley, COO and Chief People Officer, respectively, also have left.
“Over the course of the next few months, we will continue to work with our investment banker to assess alternatives for our Ohio farm project, and we will continue to market and sell available assets to generate cash,” Frank said. “We will keep all stakeholders apprised of our progress."
Construction of a production facility in Ohio has been stalled.
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