Public Pressure Just Stopped the World’s First Octopus Farm

Plans for the world’s first commercial octopus farm have been abandoned after years of opposition from scientists, animal advocates, campaigners and members of the public.

Nueva Pescanova had planned to build the facility in Gran Canaria and produce around 3,000 tonnes of octopus flesh each year. Roughly one million octopuses would have been bred, confined and killed annually. Now the project has reportedly been scrapped.

Numerous groups campaigned against the farm. Scientists challenged the idea that highly intelligent, sentient animals could be forced into industrial confinement without severe consequences. Members of the public signed petitions, shared information and sent more than 43,000 emails to the Port Authority. The result came from sustained collective pressure.

Octopuses are curious, intelligent individuals who solve problems, use tools, remember humans and experience pain. Many are solitary animals who rely on complex environments, hiding places, exploration and control over their own space. Nueva Pescanova wanted to place them in crowded tanks and turn their bodies into another mass-produced commodity.

Reports linked to octopus farming have documented aggression, injuries, cannibalism and high mortality. The proposed killing method involved submerging octopuses in freezing water or ice slurry, risking slow and painful deaths.

Farming octopuses would also mean killing other aquatic animals to feed them. Octopuses are carnivores. This industry would not reduce pressure on marine life. It would expand the number of animals captured, confined and killed.

Stopping this farm is huge because new forms of animal exploitation become harder to challenge once they are normalised, funded and built into supply chains. Which is why we recently created a petition opposing Pembrokeshire councils decision to allow guinea pigs to be bred for meat in Wales. Normalisation starts small.

California and Washington have already banned octopus farming. Mexico and Chile have considered national restrictions, while similar action has been proposed elsewhere. More governments must act before another company tries again.