Genetically Altered King Salmon On Their Way To Shelves And Restaurants Thanks To AquaticBounty

 

Commercial fishing in Alaska is not for the faint at heart
Families never know their loved ones will return as from the harbor they depart
One needs only to  a few episodes of The Most Dangerous Catch view
To know the arctic storms in the Bering Sea will sink a boat with all its crew
Waves 30 feet high in waters near freezing cold
Crab fishing is for the either the very foolish or the very bold
Gilt net fishing does not often the killer storms face
But at night drifting in the tides in the fog collisions with rocks or logs to sink a boat without a trace
Gill netters are small and in any waves a danger to over board fall
Not outfitted in survival suits like the crabber water still cold and hypothermia will not soon stall
Now a new danger to the livelihood of the troller or gillnetter of salmon to appear
Something more dangerous than sinkings or stormy weather to fear
Salmon in the wild take three years out in the Pacific before they grow to market size
And when they return to spawn only some two percent make it through the gauntlet of nets, hooks, bears and seals to survive
Now through the marvels of genetic science and growth hormones,
AquaticBounty will be farming salmon that in half that time will be grown
Have made assurances that not using ocean pens no Frankenfish would escape into the rivers and seas
But with antibiotics used to curtail fish loss through disease questions not answered of what more antibiotics will have on the health of you and me
A fisherman’s last hope that he would not have to compete with genetically altered salmon the FDA
Has despite the concerns over the demise of wild salmon or the fishing industry has given its OK
Now the likes of Beyond Meat will compete with hybrid like fish
Not soy protein with flavors but genetically altered salmon for one’s dish
Soon filets of King Salmon will be to shelves and fine restaurants on their way
To diners unaware that the salmon they are about to eat have been subject to GMA
This poet who for six summers in Alaska on boats catching salmon with a seine
Enduring long hours, jellyfish laden seines, mosquito hordes, empty sets and miserable rain
Hard to believe that that way of life may become a thing of the past
Victim of a trend for a steady stream of fresh not frozen fish as a cheaper repast

© May 29, 2021 The Alaskanpoet