Should humans industrialize creatures that can feel and suffer? Spain's octopus farm reignites debate and faces global backlash
Nueva Pescanova
, a prominent Spanish seafood firm, has proposed farming octopuses at an industrial scale in the Canary Islands to offset declining wild populations. They argue this would meet growing demand and reduce pressure on wild stocks.
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But the project has sparked widespread condemnation for attempting to mass-produce one of the ocean's most intelligent and least understood creatures.
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Are Octopuses fit for farming?
Octopuses possess about 500 million neurons throughout the body. About two-thirds are in their arms, called mini-brains, giving each limb semi-independent control, which has stunned neuroscientists and animal behaviorists alike.
The rest are in the doughnut-shaped brain, which is wrapped around the oesophagus and located in the octopus's head.
Social media videos showed Octopuses unscrewing lids to escape tanks and even showing individual preferences. It would be controversial to imagine animals with this creative level being raised for slaughter and human consumption, but octopuses are consumed in most parts of the world, too.
Many argue that octopuses are too sentient to be farmed at an industrial scale due to their complex intelligence and emotional behavior.
The slaughter method
Nueva Pescanova's method of killing, immersing live octopuses in ice slurry, has been widely condemned. Dr. Peter Tse, a cognitive neuroscientist, called the technique 'unacceptable,' pointing out that the method causes a slow and painful death.
In addition, the company plans to keep 10 to 15 octopuses per cubic meter despite the animals being naturally solitary, raising concerns about aggression and cannibalism in such cramped conditions.
The legality
The backlash has already prompted political action. Washington state has banned
octopus farming
. US senators Lisa Murkowski and Sheldon Whitehouse have introduced the
OCTOPUS Act
, aiming to outlaw it nationwide and block imports of farm-raised octopus.
In Spain, protests have erupted in Madrid, and growing pressure is mounting on the European Union to halt the farm's approval process, especially given the UK's legal recognition of octopus sentience in its Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act.
Environmental dilemma
Nueva Pescanova argues the farm will help preserve wild populations, but critics disagree. Octopuses are carnivores, meaning they must be fed large quantities of fish, worsening the strain on already depleted marine stocks.
'This doesn't reduce pressure on oceans,' said one marine ecologist. 'It shifts the burden elsewhere in the food chain.'
The debate goes beyond animal farming to a deeper ethical question: should humans industrialize creatures that can think, feel, and suffer?
Cultural phenomena like My Octopus Teacher have further reshaped public perception, portraying octopuses as emotional and trusting beings unsuitable for farming.
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