TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th March, 2023) Five people were arrested in Japan for the unauthorized trade of genetically modified Japanese rice fish also known as medaka, media reported on Wednesday.
Five owners of a pet shop in the prefecture of Saitama have farmed and sold fish with genetic modifications over the past two years in violation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the 1993 Convention on Biological Diversity aimed at preventing negative effects of genetic modification on the environment, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported.
Due to genetic modifications, the usually creamy-white rice fish have taken on a pink color, while glowing a fluorescent red in ultraviolet light, which has made them popular among customers. The police have confiscated around 1,400 fish from 50 people, according to Kyodo.
The arrested individuals pleaded guilty, saying that they had violated the law as medakas "were unparalleled beauty." It is the first ever case in Japan where people are arrested on charges of violating the Cartagena protocol.
