“How are the genes used?” “They produce unusually high levels of growth hormones and stimulate the fish's appetite. I've been developing transgenic fish with the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans lab in Vancouver. The salmon grown there are fed twenty times a day. The constant feeding is essential. These super-salmon are programmed to grow eight times faster, forty times larger than normal in the first year. You can see what a boon this is for a fish farmer. He brings a fatter fish to market in a fraction of the time.”

“Thus ensuring a larger profit.” "To be sure. Those pushing to bring biofish to market call it the

'Blue Revolution.' They admit they'd like to increase profits, but they say they have an altruistic motive as well. DNA-altered fish will pro- vide a cheap and plentiful source of food for the poorer nations of the world."

“I think I heard the same arguments in favor of DNA-modified crops,” Gamay said.

“With good reason. Genetically modified fish were a logical out- growth of the biotech food trend. If you can engineer corn, why not do the same for higher living organisms? This is likely to be far more controversial, though. The protests have already started. The oppo- nents say transgenic fish could mess up the environment, wipe out the wild fishery and put the small fisherman out of business. They're call- ing these biotech creations 'Frankenfish.' ”

“Catchy name,” said Paul, who had been listening with interest to the conversation. “Can't see it selling too many fish.” “Where do you stand on this issue?” Gamay said. “Since I created some of these fish, I have a special responsibility. I want to see more study before we start raising these creatures on fish farms. The push to commercialize what we've been doing worries me. We need extensive risk assessment before we trigger what could be a disaster.”

“You sound very worried,” Gamay said.

“It's what I don't know that concerns me. Things are spinning out of control. Dozens of commercial operations are pushing to bring their own fish to market. More than two dozen fish species are being researched in addition to salmon. The potential is enormous, al- though some fish farmers are turning away from transgenics because of the controversy. But big corporations have been moving in. There are dozens of patents for gene changes in Canada and the U.S.”

“An economic and scientific juggernaut like that will be hard to stop once it gets going.”

“I feel like King Canute trying to shout down the ocean.” The frustration was apparent in his voice. “Billions of dollars are at stake, so the pressure is enormous. That's why the Canadian government funds transgenic research. The feeling is that if we don't lead the way, others will. We want to be ready when the dam bursts.”

“If there is so much pressure and money involved, what's holding back the biofish tide?”