The selling of genetically modified food has been a topic around the world for a very long time. People are extremely worried about the health issues and drawbacks that eating genetically modified food could have especially since it isn’t of natural origin. Even though scientists try to assure people that their products are safe for human consumption, the debate still rages on. However, something has changed after the Canadian and American government allowed GM salmon to be sold (Kassam). 

      Aquabounty salmon itself is not deserving of all the hatred and disgust that has been placed against it especially when fully considering the facts. Firstly, the salmon needs only half the time (sixteen to eighteen months) to become full grown thanks to growth hormones from other fish species such as the ocean pout and the Pacific Chinook salmon (GMO answers). Also, only 25% of the food regular salmon eats is needed which saves food and money while also being more resistant to different temperatures making it perfect for surviving in the wild. Although the setting free of the salmon has yet to be approved it would save salmon from going extinct through overfishing and the company assures us that they wouldn’T cause any disease outbreak that would kill off regular salmon. This proves that although it is understandable that some people don’t want to eat it, the real issue is not the fish itself but the way it was marketed without the customers knowing what it was.

When Aquabounty sold the first few tons of salmon while keeping its origin a secret, Ronald Stotish, the company’s CEO stated what happened and that his company would gladly produce more fish because the demand was so high (Kassam). “The first genetically modified animals have arrived in the market and Canadian consumers are becoming unwittingly, the first guinea pigs,” - Thibault Rehn of the group Vigilance OGM. As stated by Thibault, many people are extremely upset about having bought and eaten the AquaBounty salmon without being given any information about it. The Canadian government won’t change this law anytime soon though because the salmon has been tested for 4 years and it has been established that there is no danger in eating it (Kassam). 

Unlike Canada, the American government responded to their citizen's complaints and public outcry to quickly change this law. The FDA (US food and drug administration) stalled the salmon’s entry into the market after many political endeavors and lawsuits from people who believe it to be “fake fish” or as it is often called “Frankenfish”. As of now, the FDA will only let genetically modified food be sold after the producing company labels their product in a way that every customer understands exactly what they are buying. This proves that what worked in America, won’t outweigh the company's facts everywhere in the world because they do have a fair point.

After more than a decade of research, Aquabounty was finally allowed to sell their fish in Canada as early as 2016 after the American market rejected them. The salmon they produce do have an astonishing amount of traits that could possibly save the salmon population and isn't as far away from the animal kingdom as you may think since the only added DNA stems from other fish. Not only that but the company also paved the way for new types of genetically modified animals such as cows (Scientific American) but whether that is a good or bad thing is still for debate. Even though it's only sold in Canadian markets for now, soon genetically modified food of all kinds could be sold everywhere in the world with no way to avoid eating it due to a lack of labels.