What is Alaska s aquatic species import ban about?
Does the State of Alaska have an opinion on genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? Alaska is committed to sustaining its wild fish stocks. When declining salmon stocks prompted the creation of hatcheries in the early 1970s to supplement wild stocks, the state established a genetics policy designed to protect the genetic integrity of wild salmon. Because salmon return almost exclusively to their natal streams/lakes to spawn, separate stocks of salmon acquire distinct set of genes unique to the salmon that breed there. Biologists believe that each stock of salmon has evolved to deal with its particular environment and that native salmon are the most fit salmon to breed in their respective streams, (best able to reproduce). Interbreeding with salmon from different areas, (that, consequently, have different genetic make-ups), or with genetically modified organisms, (whose genes are artificially altered by humans), could have negative effects on the native salmon by interfering with their g
