Galicia, Spain (AP) – At the humming factory in o carballino in the Spanish town, workers throw dozens of limp octopus into a metal cauldron, with slime strings splattering the apron. Nearby, tentacles are sliced and stuffed into vacuum sealed bags for restaurants and retailers in Europe, Asia and the US. This is part of the growing global appetite for animals that are becoming increasingly scarce in native waters.
o carballino proudly calls it the Spanish octopus capital, but with towering bronze octopus statues, it offers the annual octopus festival that attracts tens of thousands of people.
“Here in Galicia, octopus has become really, really fluctuating and rare,” said Carlos Arcos, export manager at Frigorificos Arcos SL. “If you’re industrializing your processes like we do, you need to ensure your customers are supply regularity.”
Today, 100% of the company’s octopus comes from Mauritania and Morocco.
Although octopus numbers fluctuate naturally every year, scientists and fishermen say that Spain’s long-term trends are downward, with international demand rising rapidly. This has led some companies to explore farming animals with tanks to ensure long-term supply. This is expected to bring out pushbacks from animal welfare groups.
Pressure closure of Spanish octopus fisheries
That pressure has reached its breaking point this summer. Spain’s octopus fishing has been closed for three months. This is an unusually long pause intended to give you time to recover.
“The population has just returned, but once the season begins, it will destroy everything in two weeks,” said Juan Martinez, a fisherman who has been in more than 40 years. By his side, hundreds of octopus traps sat idle and stacked along the dock at the port of Kangas at his home. “It used to be a sustainable industry, but now it’s breaking the entire ecosystem.”
Galician octopus populations also rely heavily on nutrient-rich upwelling. So deep seawater rises to the surface and brings octopus food – said Angel Gonzalez, a research professor at the Spanish National Research Council. Although upwelling fluctuates naturally, climate change changes wind patterns, marine stratification, and nutrient delivery, making these cycles less predictive and less productive in a few years. “If it weakens due to changes in ocean and atmospheric conditions, the numbers will decrease regardless of fishing.”
In response to growing demand and shrinking wild stocks, some Spanish companies are trying to take octopus prisoners. May ease pressure on the ocean. Grupo Profand is developing a Galician research hatch facility focused on overcoming the biological challenges of octopus breeding. Meanwhile, seafood giant Nueva Pescanova is pursuing a full-fledged industrial farm that sources up to 1 million octopus per year for the massacre.
Grupo Profand did not respond to the interview request. A spokesman for Nueva Pescanova declined to comment.
Animal Welfare Group says octopus should not be farmed
Animal Welfare Group has denounced the proposed projects as inhumane, citing plans to kill octopuses by sinking them with ice slurries and trapping them often in high density of cannibalistic animals. They also warn that discharged waste will pollute and exacerbate nearby water overfishing Used for feeding, the wild fish that gives suffering to one of the most complex creatures of the ocean.
“Wild animal agriculture is cruel, but especially given the nature of the octopus and its incredibly high intelligence, said Helena Constela, director of communications at Seaspiracy, advocating industrial fisheries. She said they were locking them up together in tanks, she said, “It’s basically tortured in slow motion.”
Michael Sealey, senior policy advisor at Oceana Europe, said Aquaculture should focus on species that have lower environmental costs, such as oysters and mussels, which do not require fish feed. “We recognize that aquaculture plays a role in feeding the world,” said Michael Sealey, senior policy advisor at Oceana Europe. “But we need to prioritize less impactful agriculture, rather than systems that rely on supplying wild fish to carnivorous species.”
Wide range of concerns have already spurred action in the US. Washington became the first state to ban octopus farming in 2024, followed by California, which also banned the sale of agricultural octopus. Over half a dozen other state lawmakers have proposed a similar ban, and a bipartisan federal bill is under consideration in Congress to ban both farming and importing agricultural octopus.
Although commercial farms are currently not operating in the US, these preemptive measures reflect an increase in anxiety over projects moving forward in parts of Europe, Asia and South America. “My Octopus Teacher” We introduced millions of animals to the intelligence and emotional complexities of animals on Netflix.
Discussions in favour of agriculture
“They have real brains. They can do things other animals can’t,” said Gonzalez of the Spanish National Research Council. “But don’t cross the line. It’s an animal, an invertebrate. You can’t extrapolate these types of things. Personalities are linked to people.”
González is working with Grupo Profand on a research hatching ground, but believes agriculture will help restore wild strains by raising boy octopus bred to be released back into the ocean.
Javier Ojeda, national aquaculture president at Apromar, the Spanish aquaculture business association, said aquatic animals can play an important role in food security and are more efficient to raise them than livestock. “Octopus grows very quickly and efficiently. They are not fighting gravity and don’t spend the energy to heat their bodies,” he said. He acknowledged welfare concerns but argued that scientific advances should not be hampered.
“Agriculture octopus is unstoppable,” Ojeda said. “We’ve been eating them for a long time. Now we need to try and find best practices.”
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