AquaBounty cleared to export GM salmon eggs to U.S.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has lifted a ban on genetically-engineered salmon imports, allowing the company AquaBounty to export eggs it is producing at its facility in Bay Fortune, P.E.I.

In a news release, AquaBounty's CEO Sylvia Wulf said the company is aiming to send the eggs to its plant in Indiana, where they will be hatched and grown to market size.

"We will immediately start the process to import AquAdvantage eggs from our hatchery in Canada to begin grow out at our Indiana facility," said Wulf.

The FDA import ban was put in place three years ago, after the U.S. Congress demanded labeling guidelines for genetically-modified salmon be determined first. Last year, a decision was made that it will be mandatory to disclose if a food is bioengineered. The FDA says that decision allowed for the import ban to be lifted.

The value of the company's stock on the NASDAQ market doubled Friday on the announcement of the news.

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