Octopuses are among the most intelligent creatures on Earth, they can use objects, solve complex tasks and feel emotions. Until now, wild octopuses that were hunted have been used as food. If there is a hell on earth, it is animal farms, where animals are kept in terrible conditions and their whole life is suffering. Now the first farm focused on the breeding of these intelligent creatures is to be created. More and more activists are protesting against the creation of such a farm at all. People need to know about this problem, every farm means nothing but suffering for animals.
The unscrupulous company will launch the farm next year
The Spanish company Nueva Pescanova wants to open the first farm focused on commercial octopus breeding next year. Scientists warn that this could be an ecological as well as an ethical threat. The farm wants to saturate the market and overcome the competition. By 2026, it wants to produce 3,000 tons of octopus per year. Octopus farming efforts have always been plagued with high mortality. The octopuses were aggressive and often mutilated themselves. If you put an extremely intelligent creature in a small tank, it will soon go crazy. The company will cruelly kill millions of octopuses every year.
“This is a global milestone,” said Roberto Romero, aquaculture director at Nueva Pescanova, the company pouring 65 million euros ($74 million) into the farm, which is pending environmental approval from local authorities.
The demand for octopus is growing
The value of the global octopus trade has doubled in almost 10 years. The value of the octopus trade grew from $1.30 billion to $2.72 billion between 2010 and 2019. Studies suggest that agriculture with high living conditions is impossible.
Raul Garcia, who heads WWF’s fisheries operations in Spain, said:
“Octopuses are extremely intelligent and extremely curious. And it’s well known they are not happy in conditions of captivity,” he told Reuters.
Octopuses live solitary lives on the seabed, mass breeding will mean an extreme amount of stress for them. European Union animal welfare laws do not apply to invertebrates. Nueva Pescanova has not provided any information on how large the breeding tanks will be, what the animals will be fed or how many octopuses will be kept together. There is particularly great interest in octopus in Italy, Korea, Japan and Spain.
Stop eating octopus
The current fishery has reached its limit and to meet the demand, it is proposed to open squid farms. More than 350,000 tonnes of squid are caught each year in countries including China, Japan and Mexico, and their numbers are rapidly declining in the wild. It is necessary to realize that the number of people is constantly increasing and it is impossible to exhaust natural resources in this way. Activists say the problem has a simple solution, stop eating squid. Unfortunately, many people consider them a delicacy.
“There’s so many wonderful vegan alternatives out there now,” said Carys Bennett of animal-rights group PETA. “We’re urging everyone to protest against this farm.”
Farming will endanger other sea creatures
The farms may also still require wild-caught fish to feed the octopuses, further adding to pressure on the oceans. “The industry really has to justify farming carnivores, because this – from a sustainability perspective – makes zero sense,” said Jennifer Jacquet, associate professor of environmental studies at New York University.
Small companies and fishermen will also be at risk
The farming of octopuses on farms threatens not only the octopuses themselves, but also a large number of fishermen who will not be able to compete with the farms. While the company will create jobs, it will also threaten the livelihoods of many small-scale fishermen. Big companies only think about profit and don’t care how much suffering they cause and if people lose their jobs because of them. Even chefs are against farming on farms, because the quality of meat from animals raised in this way is much lower.
Action is needed
Cruel farms will even be supported by EU funds. We, therefore, call on the European Commission to ban octopus farming and the sale of farmed octopus in the EU.
Resources:
https://www.tilt.green/octopus_farming
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/11/my-octopus-eater-critics-say-plans-for-farm-are-unethical-and-unsustainable
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/worlds-first-octopus-farm-stirs-ethical-debate-2022-02-23/
Image credit: Pixabay.com
