Join us for the 2nd webinar in CAGJ’s Rise Up Summer School series (open to all), organized around the theme of Indigenous Food Sovereignty! We will discuss the latest developments in the #BlockCorporateSalmon campaign, and be guided through a Visionary Fiction workshop, where we will put our imaginations to the test in dreaming up a better future together.
Speakers:
- Carl Wassile is a Native Fisherman from Yup’ik Nation in Western Alaska and part of Alaska’s Big Village Network and #BlockCorporateSalmon
- Estefanía Narvaez is co-founder of #BlockCorporateSalmon and Digital Organizer, North America Marine Alliance (NAMA)
Please register to receive the Zoom link!
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The workshop will be led by Carl Wassile and Estefanía Narvaez, two organizers on the forefront of the #BlockCorporateSalmon campaign. CAGJ’s years-long campaign to stop GE salmon was developed in solidarity with Northwest Tribes, who are the Salmon People. Uprooted & Rising launched #BlockCorporateSalmon to amplify this work with the Coast Salish People, to prevent salmon genetically engineered by AquaBounty Technology from coming to our plates, rivers and seas.
BACKGROUND:
For many Tribes, salmon is at the center of how they organize community life. Indigenous communities’ opposition to GE salmon is part of their struggle to safeguard access to and knowledge of the traditional foodways that sustain them. They challenge the commonly held notion that higher yields and profits, spearheaded by technological innovation, will pave the way to solving our ‘hunger problem’. Instead, they advocate for alternative ways of acquiring food and caring for the environment that are based on reciprocity, and which seek to undo the harm caused by colonization.
GE salmon is the first genetically engineered animal to ever gain approval for human consumption. While the FDA gave the green light in 2015, the approval was halted by a successful lawsuit brought by the WA-based Quinault Indian Nation and 11 other parties, requiring the FDA to carry out an in-depth investigation into the potential environmental harms for wild salmon populations.
The AquaBounty company is currently facing challenges in the communities where they wish to open new land-based fish factories. Protesters in Pioneer, Ohio oppose the new AquaBounty facility, citing that they will be pulling 5 million gallons of water per day from the aquifer to sustain the fish farms, and then dumping it into the St. Joseph river.
In this webinar, participants will learn about the many actions being taken to stop GE Salmon (and all other genetically engineered fish), and how YOU can get involved.
Don’t forget to register to receive the Zoom link: tinyurl.com/BlockGESalmonJuly12
Follow the campaign on Instagram: #BlockCorporateSalmon
Along with accounts that follow the struggle: @CAGJ & @BlockCorporateSalmon !