GM salmon breeder, Aqua Bounty Technologies, has been awarded a $1,680,000 grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program to develop a genetic technique that allows fish farmers to breed fish safely in captivity but prevents the same fish from reproducing if they escape into the wild.

"Reversible sterility is a platform technology that will allow the $52- billion global aquaculture industry to triple production over the next two decades, as it must do to meet the expanding demand for seafood," said Elliot Entis, the Aqua Bounty president and CEO.  "By removing the risk that farmed fish might breed in the wild, this technology opens the door for many new species in fish farming, including transgenic fish and non-native species in locations that do not now have access to the best-performing livestock."

The project will compare five different genetic engineering strategies to interrupt the reproductive cycle in channel catfish and common carp, and then attempt to reverse the process through various fertility treatments. Offspring would be incapable of reproduction from birth, but fish selected for breeding could be restored to fertility in the secure conditions of a land locked hatchery.

Aqua Bounty Technologies, formerly known as Aqua Bounty Farms, pioneered the development of molecular breeding in fish.  It's advanced hybrid salmon is currently under FDA review and on track to become the first transgenic animal approved for food use.  "The ATP award is a vote of confidence in our company and in the prospects for our technology to be employed commercially," Entis said. The company will fund 1.8-million of the $3.5-million project cost. Researchers at Auburn University in Alabama will provide catfish expertise and technical support to the project.