Legislation to ban sale or shipping of genetically modified salmon in the United States, and to require that such products be labeled as genetically engineered was introduced in the U.S. Senate Feb.7 by Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska.

“Alaska has been supplying the world with nutritious salmon for decades,” said Begich, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and the Coast Guard. “We cannot afford to experiment with the world’s largest wild salmon stocks without the certainty that these fake fish won’t pose a serious environmental risk, especially to wild salmon and their habitat.

“I’m introducing these bills to prevent against science experiments on the plates of Alaska families,” he said.