| No surprise here. Between the last quarter of 2009 and the first two quarters of 2010, AquaBounty Technologies paid the company Policy Directions Inc a cool $30,000 to lobby for "FDA approval of transgenic salmon eggs." Specifically, they have lobbied the House, the Senate, the USDA, the FDA (where the lobbying seems to have worked), the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Trade Rep's office.
Their lobbyist is one Steve Kopperud, former senior vice president of the American Feed Industry Association. In other words, he's got over 25 years of experience lobbying the government on behalf of Big Ag. He takes credit for working on every farm bill since 1985, and he worked on the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, a law used to bust animal rights activists. He also worked on the Animal Drug Availability Act and the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act. He's also the founder and past president of the Animal Agriculture Alliance (formerly known as the Animal Industry Foundation). Looks like AquaBounty is getting their money's worth. |
