octopus are extremely intelligent animal capable of sophisticated problem solve and learning , and have even exhibited behaviors that propose they havepersonalitiesandfeel infliction , but they have one substantial impuissance : they ’re considered a delicious slightness across the globe . Now a marriage offer for the " Earth ’s first intensive octopus farm " in Gran Canaria has scientist and conservationists bear on .
Demand for octopus meat has empale in recent years , and with a growing grocery store , companies have been trying to crack the code to breeding them in incarceration so that they can be mass - produced and trade . Now , octopus farmingis back in the press afterBBC Newsreceived papers from Eurogroup For Animals regarding a preparation proposal for Nueva Pescanova , a Spanish multinational that want to farm octopus .
The text file were post to the Canary Islands ' General Directorate of Fishing for review , and details of the proposal have scientists occupy .
Closing the octopus life cycle had held back farming efforts for years as larvae need very specific conditions to thrive. Image credit: NOAA Photo Library via flickr,CC BY 2.0
Keeping octopuses in tanks
Octopuses are typically solitary animals that favour grim environment , but Nueva Pescanova reportedly intends to keep multipleOctopus vulgarisin thousand of well - lit tanks lay in across two floors in a building in Las Palmas , Gran Canaria .
Once ready for slaughter , they ’ll be freeze - killed in an methamphetamine hydrochloride slurry kept at -3 ° C ( 26.6 ° F ) . Some studies conclude this is amore humanistic euthanasia optionfor fish when compare to alternatives like benzocaine overdose . However , researchhas found that other marine mintage killed in this mode exhibit physical and physiological changes assort with stress , receive severe pain in the neck from muscle muscular contraction , and do n’t always go aright forth .
Breeding farmed octopus in captivity
The secret to captive breeding has held back octopus farming for years , but in 2019 Nueva Pescanova discover a way . As well as raising new generations from captive individuals , they also arrogate to have found a way to gallop their lifetime , though some contend it would be a farsighted life not deserving living .
In the essay , The Case Against Octopus Farming , Jennifer Jacquet and a team of authors argue that octopus are “ particularly ill - become to a lifespan in captivity and mass - production , for reasons both honorable and ecological . ”
The essay explains that the interaction between an octopus and its environment is so complex , withmimicry , represent , and hunting in their species and terrain - rich intertidal habitats , that absent it would be taking aside their “ meaningful lives ” . Confinement is know to get utmost psychological distress to intelligent animate being , with poorly kept zoological garden animals often demo prejudicial behaviors such as pacing , ego - mutilation , and regurgitation to name a few .
Being contained in a well-lit tank with lots of other octopuses is about as far as you can get from O. vulgaris’s natural habitat. Image credit: TamaraP / Shutterstock.com
Will octopus farming cause animal suffering?
Octopuses finger excited and physical pain , according to a2021 studythat show they would take footstep to avoid painful situations and curative pain actuate by an injection . This shows that , unlike other invertebrate , octopuses do n’t just record nuisance , but they also comprehend it as a damaging experience – a degree of cognition that does n’t coalesce well with captive environments .
Their news and sensitivity imply they weregranted sentient statusin the UK in 2021 following an independent recapitulation examining over 300 studies , discover “ hard scientific evidence decapod crustaceans and cephalopodan mollusks aresentient ” .
“ Sentience relate to an animal ’s ability to have immanent experiences , such as pleasance , pain , reverence , and other emotions . [ It ] have-to doe with explicitly to an creature ’s ability to feel the world and is often look at in discussions of animal public assistance , ” Michaella Pereira Andrade and Tatiana Leite told IFLScience inissue 8 of our east - magazine , CURIOUS . The investigator are direct up a unexampled labor funded by the Wild Animal Initiative to investigate what it ’s like to experience life sentence as an octopus .
In short , a sentient brute is one that ’s capable of use and suffering . With Nueva Pescanova protrude to turn over jillion of animals annually , this could be very bad news for octopus welfare .
