ゲノム編集とらふぐをふるさと納税返礼品から削除し、海上養殖は絶対にしないでください!

ゲノム編集とらふぐをふるさと納税返礼品から削除し、海上養殖は絶対にしないでください!

開始日
2022年4月20日
現在の賛同数:1,921次の目標:2,500
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この署名で変えたいこと

署名の発信者 井口 裕子

English is written below.
日本三景 天橋立のある 海の京都 宮津市。
新鮮な地魚を求めて観光に来られる方も多く、豊富な魚種は全国の釣り人を魅了しています。
そんな美しい小さな海のまちで、ゲノム編集のとらふぐが ふるさと納税返礼品に出品されました。
販売しているのは、リージョナルフィッシュ社(=地魚)という京都大学発のベンチャー企業です。
ふるさと納税には、昔からこの地の産業を大切にしてきた生産者さんの魅了的な商品がいっぱい。
なのになぜ 京都市内の企業が、ゲノム編集したとらふぐを宮津市のふるさと納税返礼品にするのでしょうか?天然の地魚が魅力なのに、どうしてわざわざ市長がゲノム編集の会社を応援しているのか、理解に苦しみます。

ゲノム編集について

●ゲノム編集の魚を販売したのは、日本が世界初。
現在リージョナルフィッシュ社から、マダイ、とらふぐの申請がされ、インターネットなどで販売。今後スシローと共同で新工場を計画するなどして事業を拡大する予定です。
●海外では、食の安全に対する不安や生物多様性、人道的な観点から批判も多く、実用化に至っていません。
●ゲノム編集は遺伝子組み換えのような表示の義務がなく、寿司や切り身になると見分けがつきません。
●遺伝子を破壊され、筋肉を無理矢理大きくし、太らせた魚は骨も脆く病気の状態の奇形の魚を人の手で作り出すことから、拷問養殖とも呼ばれています。
●遺伝子組み換えとは違うから安全と言われていますが、同様またはそれ以上の危険性もあると警鐘を鳴らす専門家もいます。
●移植などにも利用できるが使い方を間違えれば 痛みを感じず 命尽きるまで戦う人間兵器を作ることも可能な、神の領域に迫るテクノロジー。
●詳しい安全検査はされておらず、まだ研究の途上でありこれからの健康被害などは誰にもわかりません。

責任は、誰が?

●現在日本でゲノム編集による規制や法律はなく、厚生労働省は”このとらふぐについて、”当該生物について国が使用を許可するものではありません”と回答。
●農林水産省は販売者であるリージョナルフィッシュ社と答えましたが、この会社に対する質問等受け答えは全て 農林水産省からのレンタル移籍の方です。研修期間が終われば農水省に戻ります。
●宮津市は国が安全と認めていると言っていますが、国は責任を取らないと明言していますので、今後問題が起こった時 誰に責任があるのかはっきりしておらず、とても不安です。

私たちの願い

●安全性に不安のあるゲノム編集とらふぐを宮津市のふるさと納税の返礼品から削除してください。
●ゲノム編集について不安に思う市民の声や危険性もあるという専門家の意見も聞き入れ、住民説明会などを開き、市も一緒に学んで欲しい。
●リージョナルフィッシュ社を宮津市民がみんな応援しているかのような発信、広報はやめてください。
●リージョナルフィッシュ社が海上養殖の手続きを進めているという記事もありました。もし1匹でも逃げ出せば、交配によってどのような変化、影響があるのか解っていません。海上での養殖は絶対にやめてください。また市からも許可を出さないでください。

気に留めてくださった皆さんへ

読んでくださってありがとうございます。
私たちはとても小さな存在ですが、国がいうから安心だと盲信的に信じるのはとても怖いなと思い、活動をはじめました。
ゲノム編集を不確かな安心安全神話で、国をあげて推し進め、ゲノム編集村が出来上がってしまう前に。
子供たちの給食や、大好きな回転寿司やスーパーマーケットで、表示もないままゲノム編集食品が当たり前の様に流通してしまう前に。

なんとか この流れを ここで止めたいのです。
どうぞ、皆さんの力を貸してください!

呼びかけ団体
∞宮津 麦のね宙ふねっとワーク∞
井口裕子  矢野めぐみ

Miyazu City, a part of Kyoto by the Sea, is home to Amanohashite, one of Japan’s top three attractions.

Many tourists travel here for our fresh local fish, and anglers from all over Japan are attracted by varieties of fish in our waters.

It is in such a small and beautiful sea town that genome-edited torafugu(pufferfish) is being offered as its Furusato Nozei (hometown tax) return gift.

Furusato Nozei (hometown tax) is a unique Japanese tax system which seeks to address imbalances in urban and rural tax revenue by giving taxpayers the option to contribute their income or residential tax to a municipality of their choice.

The hometown tax return gift is given by the beneficiary to the taxpayer, and typically, each municipality selects a local product that is rich in local tradition and can be considered as representative of its region.

Despite its proximity to the sea and the abundance of fresh local fish, Miyazuhas chosen to offer genome-edited fish farmed on land as its representative gift.

The company selling this fish is called Regional Fish, a Kyoto University venture company.

We find it hard to understand why a product by a company started in Kyoto City has been chosen as Miyazu City’s hometown tax return gift. We find it even harder to comprehend why our mayor is going out of his way to support farmed fish when part of our city’s attraction is access to plentiful wild local seafood.

-About Genome Editing

Japan is the first country in the world to sell genome-edited fish.

Currently, Regional Fish has applied for sale of its red sea bream (madai) and pufferfish (torafugu), both of which are sold online and via various channels.

The company plans to expand its business in the near future with the construction of a new plant in collaboration with one of Japan’s popular conveyor belt sushi chains, Sushiro.

The consumption of genome-edited fish has not been widely implemented outside of Japan due to various food safety concerns and criticisms on the ethics of this method (see https://arcj.org/en/ethical-consumption-en/genome-editing-cruelty/

Genome edited products are currently not subject to the same labeling requirements as genetically modified ones (see https://www.fishfarmingexpert.com/article/gene-edited-bream-goes-on-sale-in-japan/ and it can be difficult for consumers to identify what they are consuming when it comes to processed fish such as sushi or sashimi (see https://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Article/2019/12/05/Genome-edited-food-products-to-go-on-sale-in-Japan-despite-no-labelling-and-safety-provisions

Genome-editing works by destroying part of the fish’s genes in order to achieve enlarged muscles and increased bulk or flesh. This process produces deformed fish with brittle bones and diseases, and it would not be an exaggeration to call this a torture-farming of fish (see https://www.testbiotech.org/en/news/crispr-fish-suspected-torture-breeding

Products of genome-editing are said to be safe compared to genetically modified one, but some experts warn that there are similar or even greater risks (see https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12302-020-00361-2

This technology has potential for use in human transplantations. Our fear is in the misuse of genome-editing for the creation of human weapons or in bioterrorism (see https://phys.org/news/2021-11-gene-weapon.html

No detailed safety inspections of genome-edited fish have been conducted or are required in Japan (https://www.science.org/content/article/gene-edited-foods-are-safe-japanese-panel-concludes and genome-editing research is still in its infancy (see https://www.whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/science/summary/crispr

-Where does responsibility lie?

Currently, there are no specific rules or governance regarding the use of genome editing in Japan. With regards to the use of genome-edited pufferfish, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has declared, "The Japanese government does not permit the use of this organism in Japan.”

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) stated that all responsibilities are borne by the seller, Regional Fish Corporation. Yet it appears that questions regarding this issue directed at the company were fielded by staff on internship from MAFF, who will return to the agency at the end of their training period.

Miyazu City claims that the safety of the fish is recognized by the national government. However, since the national government has clearly stated that they will not take responsibility, it is not clear who will be held responsible ifproblems should occur in the future. We see this as a strong cause for worry.

-Our Appeal

Please remove genome-edited pufferfish from Miyazu City's list hometown tax returns, because there are still concerns about its safety for consumption.

Please listen to the opinions of your residents. We are concerned about genome editing and would like to hear more from experts who see the risks involved. We hope that more explanatory meetings for residents can be held, so that together, we can learn more about this new technology.

Please stop promoting Regional Fish and their products as if all Miyazuresidents are aware and supportive of their work.

A recent article reported that Regional Fish is proceeding with the construction of offshore aquaculture.

Given the risks and the uncertainties involved If even one fish escaped, we hope that this plan can be halted till more risk assessments are conducted. We hope the city will carefully consider giving this project their permission.

To all of you who have taken notice,

Thank you for reading our petition.

We are a very small entity, but we are voicing our opinions because we are afraid of just blindly believing that we are safe because the government says so.

We hope to stop this alarming trend before the government continues to promote the myth that genome-editing is completely safe and risk-free, and before more villages of genome-editing can be created.

We want to make sure that the government promotes genome editing with the myth that it is safe and secure, and before a genome editing village is created.

We also want to do something before genome-edited foods are distributed as a matter of course in our children's school lunches and in our favorite conveyor belt sushi restaurants and supermarkets without proper, or even any, labeling.

Please lend us your support!

Organization

∞ Miyazu Mugi-no-Ne Sora-fu Net Work ∞

Yuko Iguchi ( Noco)
Megumi Yano

Here are more readings on this technology and its potential implications and risks:

> CRISPR-Cas9 induces large structural variants at on-target and off-target sites in vivo that segregate across generations (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28244-5

 

> CRISPR-Cas9 can generate unexpected, heritable mutations (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220202080317.htm

 

> CRISPR-Cas9 babies likely to die earlier, Berkeley study says. (https://www.dw.com/en/crispr-cas9-babies-likely-to-die-earlier-berkeley-study-says/a-49025884

 

> The CRISPR-baby scandal: what’s next for human gene-editing (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00673-1

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