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Potential risks of trophic impacts by escaped transgenic salmon in marine environments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2014

LINGBO LI ,
TONY J. PITCHER  and
ROBERT H. DEVLIN
LINGBO LI
Affiliation:
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 4160 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, BC, CanadaV7V 1N6 Fisheries Centre, the University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
TONY J. PITCHER
Affiliation:
Fisheries Centre, the University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
ROBERT H. DEVLIN*
Affiliation:
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 4160 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, BC, CanadaV7V 1N6
*
*Correspondence: Dr Robert H. Devlin Tel: +1 604 666 7926 Fax: +1 604 666 3497 e-mail: robert.devlin@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
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Summary

There is significant concern about potential ecological effects of introduced organisms, including non-indigenous species and those created by genetic modification. This paper presents an Ecopath with Ecosim modelling approach, designed to examine long-term trophic effects of growth hormone (GH) transgenic coho salmon should they ever escape to a coastal salmonid ecosystem, namely the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia (Canada). The model showed that the effects of introduced GH transgenic coho salmon varied with their biomass, diet, structure of the invaded ecosystem, and environmental conditions. Occasional escapes of non-reproductive salmon did not have a significant impact on the example ecosystem. However, effects of GH coho salmon varied with their diet when large numbers of these fish were present in the simulated ecosystem (for example, when they constituted 20% of total current aquaculture production in the area). Further, climate-driven changes in the biomass of low trophic levels (bottom-up effects) could have a greater impact on the ecosystem than the introduction of large numbers of GH coho salmon. A new version of Ecopath with Ecosim's Monte Carlo approach showed that the model predictions were robust to GH coho salmon's Ecopath parameters, but more sensitive to vulnerabilities of prey to GH coho salmon. Modelling ecosystem effects of genetically modified organisms provides a complementary approach for risk assessments when data from nature are not readily obtainable.

Keywords

bottom-up effectsEcopath with Ecosimecosystemgrowth hormoneMonte Carlo simulationsalmontransgenictrophic interactionsvulnerabilities
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 42 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 152 - 161
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2014 

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