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== Environmental Assessment ==
Prior to FDA approval, the AquAdvantage was required to undergo an environmental assessmentEnvironmental Assessment (EA). One of the main concerns addressed in the assessment is the potential for the GE salmon to escape into the wild, particularly if it would be able to survive there and compete with wild populations and/or interbreed with wild populations.<ref>[http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/VeterinaryMedicineAdvisoryCommittee/UCM224760.pdf Environmental Assessment for AquAdvantage Salmon (Aqua Bounty Technologies, Inc.) (PDF - 1095KB)], Food and Drug Administration, August 25, 2010.</ref>
=== Survival in the Wild ===
=== Biological Containment ===
The AquAdvantage salmon will all be female triploids (fish with three compete sets of chromosomes instead of two). According to the EA: <ref>[http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/VeterinaryMedicineAdvisoryCommittee/UCM224760.pdf Environmental Assessment for AquAdvantage Salmon (Aqua Bounty Technologies, Inc.) (PDF - 1095KB)], Food and Drug Administration, August 25, 2010.</ref> "The induction of triploidy is the only accepted method currently available for sterilizing fish on a commercial scale." However, the EA later notes that triploidy is not 100% successful at producing sterility in GE fish.
One potential problem is the possibility that some fish will not successfully become triploids. According to the EA, AquaBounty Technologies examined its effectiveness at inducing triploidy at its Prince Edward Island facility and found that it successfully averaged batches that are 99.8% triploids (with a range from 98.9% to 100%). AquaBounty Technologies plans to perform quality control tests, ensuring that "the likelihood of releasing a batch of eyed-eggs that are not at least 95% triploid is less than 0.05."
=== Environment in Panama ===
If a fish were to escape in Panama, it would find itself in a high-elevation landlocked area of Panama, adjacent to a river that flows into the Pacific Ocean. <ref>[http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/VeterinaryMedicineAdvisoryCommittee/UCM224760.pdf Environmental Assessment for AquAdvantage Salmon (Aqua Bounty Technologies, Inc.) (PDF - 1095KB)], Food and Drug Administration, August 25, 2010.</ref> Currently, three hydro-electric dams "divert a significant portion of the aggregate water flow from the river for power generation, returning effluent to the watershed further downstream." If diverted through these canals, the salmon would find low food availability. Four additional dams are planned. According to the EA, current and future dams and canals "constitute a significant, but not complete, barrier to fish migration to the Pacific Ocean."
Were a salmon to escape, water temperatures in the highlands would be hospitable to its survival (around 15-16 degrees C), but as it migrated towards the Pacific Ocean, ultimately it would face water temperatures approaching (or slightly above) 28C. At that temperature, it would likely be impossible for the salmon to survive.
