Mosquito vote up in the air as criticism of plan continues
BY TERRY SCHMIDA
Where once politicians and the public thought they had a general idea of when the vote on bringing genetically modified mosquitoes to the Keys would take place, it now appears that they could be Waiting for Godot.
The controversial experimental release of hundreds of thousands of GMO skeeters has been pushed back again, after the Mosquito Control District stopped short of voting to give final approval to the measure at its April 21 meeting. This is the second time in which the board drew back from voting on the plan to release hundreds of thousands of male Aedes aegypti to breed with non-GMO insects, hopefully reducing the risk of dengue fever and reliance on insecticides in Monroe County. This time around, no new tally has been scheduled.
The reason given was that members of the bug board are awaiting a draft assessment on the proposed action by the federal Food and Drug Administration.
“The Board of Commissioners voted . . . to postpone the final vote on the Investigational Agreement with Oxitec,” said Mosquito Control Public Education and Information Officer Beth Ranson via email. “They are postponing the vote until the FDA either publishes either a draft of the Environmental Assessment or the Final Environmental Assessment itself – whichever comes first. They felt that a lot of the concerns and questions by the public would be addressed in the assessment and that the board could make the best informed decision upon reviewing the assessment.”
A number of residents from Key Haven, where employees of the British biotech company will release the insects, showed up at the meeting to voice their disapproval, citing concerns about potential side effects, such as the inadvertent release of female GMO mosquitoes. Some fear these females could then breed with their male counterparts, creating uncertainty, rather than simply mating with non-modified males and dying off, as planned.
A small number of Dengue Fever cases have been reported in the Keys in recent years.
However, board Chair Jill Cranney-Gage assured attendees that the anticipated environmental assessment would alleviate “many of the public’s concerns.”
Yet the postponing of the vote casts into doubt when final approval will come – or if it will even come at all.
At press time, nobody seemed to know when a roll-call will take place.
“There has been no indication from the FDA as to when and if they will release the Environmental Assessment – so at this time – we have no date set for the final vote on the Investigational Agreement,” Beth Ranson said.
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