More Than 35,000 People Urge the Spanish Government to Stop the World’s First Octopus Factory Farm
A petition opposing the plans has attracted tens of thousands of signatures from Species Unite supporters.
A petition to prevent the world’s first octopus factory farm from opening this year has received over 36,000 signatures.
The Spanish firm, Nueva Pescanova Group is set to open a commercial octopus farm in the Canary Islands this summer, where at least 60,000 captive octopuses will be kept and killed every year for human consumption.
But the new plant has provoked controversy from scientists, conservationists, and animal advocates who have urged Spain to prevent any further development of “this cruel and environmentally damaging practice.”
The petition by the animal rights media group, Species Unite has been submitted to Ms. Alicia Vanoostende Simil, the minister for agriculture, livestock, and fisheries of the Canary Islands who is yet to respond.
“As the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries for the Government of the Canary Islands, we urge you to take action and stop the plans for farming these extraordinary thinking, feeling beings,” read the petition signed by 36,152 Species Unite supporters. “Please ban octopus farming and stop this new form of mechanized animal cruelty before it is too late.”
Octopus Farming
Demand for octopus meat is rising, with around 771.6 million pounds caught from the seas each year. This in turn is causing global stocks to seriously decline.
Until now, it has been impossible to commercially farm octopuses. For decades, the seafood industry has been researching how to breed and raise the aquatic animals, facing a multitude of challenges associated with farming them intensively, from correct tank conditions to suitable feed.
Nueva Pescanova claims they are the first to have solved the puzzle of farming octopus, arguing that their facility will fulfill the growing demand for octopus meat and relieve pressure on wild populations.
The multinational company is keeping a tight lid on what the conditions of the farm will be like, including the size of the tanks, the food the octopus will eat, and how they will be slaughtered.
Conservationists, however, see no reason why the fishing industry will stop hunting wild octopuses. In addition, as octopuses only consume live food - usually between 1-2 percent of their body weight a day - there is concern about wild fish populations being negatively impacted by farming the aquatic animals.
“Octopus farming would increase, not alleviate, pressure on wild aquatic animals,” wrote Jennifer Jacquet, professor of environmental studies at New York University and lead author of a report into octopus trade by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. “Given the depleted state of global fisheries and the challenges of providing adequate nutrition to a growing human population, increased farming of carnivorous species
Octopus Sentience
Octopus are highly intelligent, complex individuals that are capable of using tools, disguising themselves, and changing the color of their skin.
A recent study that reviewed hundreds of scientific papers on pain reception among invertebrate groups concluded that octopuses were “sentient beings” and there was “strong scientific evidence” that they can experience complex emotions including pain and joy.
Authors of the study also wrote they were “convinced that high-welfare octopus farming was impossible”. In light of the report’s groundbreaking findings, amendments were made to the UK’s Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill to recognize octopuses and other aquatic animals.
Octopus sentience is not yet formally recognized in the EU, which means that the animals farmed by Nueva Pescanova will have no legal protections to ensure their welfare.
If kept in close confinement, octopus anatomy leaves them vulnerable to injury. And as they are solitary, territorial creatures there is also concern they may become cannibalistic in captivity.
“If Spain opens the world’s first octopus factory farm then these precious creatures will likely live short, horrible lives in torturous conditions,” says the petition. “We must stop this new form of mechanized animal cruelty before it is too late.”
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