Why is There a Debate Around Octopus Farming?

Octopuses are arguably one of our planet’s most intelligent creatures and they frequently capture the hearts of the public with their cheeky antics and quirky appearance. Yet we are now one step closer to commercially farming octopuses in man-made environments, with the first farm set to open next year. The idea of caging such inquisitive and smart animals has been met with large opposition since the announcement but you might be wondering, what exactly all the fuss is about?

Hundreds of studies have highlighted just how brainy octopuses really are and over the years, we have discovered that they are not so different from ourselves, despite their eight legs and three hearts. Just like us, octopuses have varying moods which change day by day. DJ, an octopus which lives in Bristol aquarium, can be seen boldly playing one day before hiding away, sulking and sleeping like a teenager the next. As his mood swings, his skin colour changes too with orangey-brown showing his adventurous side and speckles appearing when he is curious and often coincides with him staring deep into the eyes of his visitors. DJ even acts differently depending on which keeper he sees that day, having clearly decided on his favourites who he likes to sit with and hold their hand in his tentacles.

In addition to their obvious displays of emotion and varying moods, they have also proven themselves as quick learners which once having learnt a skill, can remember it for a period of time. They have also been observed to learn from their mistakes; for example, the star in the famous ‘My Octopus Teacher’ was attacked by a shark and lost an arm in the process. The next time a shark tried to attack, she simply sat on the shark’s back so his teeth couldn’t reach her. These incredible creatures have also been seen to navigate with visual landmarks, hide in shells from predators, use coconut shells as defence tools and perfect the art of escapism, with some escaping from jars after unscrewing the lid from the inside!

It is this level of intelligence and their ability to feel emotions and pain that have people questioning the humanity of octopus farms. A Spanish company has announced that they will be opening the world’s first commercial octopus farm in the Canary Islands in 2023 which will be a closed life cycle system. This means that once an initial stock of octopuses have been caught, they will breed inside the farm to produce future stock. With the number of wild octopuses caught between 1980 and 2014 having doubled to 350,000, they argue that the farming of them is the only way to meet demand without causing our wild populations to crash.

The notion of octopus farming is not a new one and fishermen have tried for several decades to solve the many challenges that arise. In many ways, octopuses are perfect for farming; they grow quickly, they only live for one or two years, they eat low grade food and have a high reproductive rate as well as an increasing market value. Yet it turns out that we know very little about the conditions these creatures need to thrive. Achieving the correct tank conditions and finding the right food has been tricky, with many hatchlings dying before becoming fully grown. Most often, they die in the paralarval stage which is when they are growing their arms and therefore need food of high nutritional value and fatty acids. Overall, it is thought that 20% of octopuses die in Spanish aquaculture due to the conditions being unfavourable. This is an incredibly high number and is what makes octopus farming different from our traditional farming of say, pigs. Pigs have been domesticated for hundreds of years and in that time, we have learnt exactly what they need to survive and thrive, allowing them to live as good a life as possible whilst being farmed. Yet octopuses are still wild animals and we simply don’t know enough about them to give them a good quality of life in a tank.

In the wild, octopuses are solitary creatures which prefer their own company. Place hundreds of them in a farm in close proximity together and they have been observed to become angry, aggressive, stressed and may even turn to cannibalism. This aggression is particularly dangerous for these invertebrates which have no internal or external skeleton to protect them. Their skin is fragile and easily damaged by human handling, fighting with others or collisions with the side of the tank. Two possible solutions to this have been suggested and one sees the tank conditions set to be as close as possible to the ocean which allows the octopuses to move slowly with their arms rather than move via propulsion which leads to more collisions and is associated with danger and stress. The other solution sees octopuses put in individual small tanks, however this allows no opportunity for enrichment, which helps boost their mental wellbeing and reduce boredom.

With octopuses being so intelligent, they can become easily bored in lifeless blank tanks. With no nooks and crannies to explore or hunting to be done, octopuses can become frustrated and even the consistent water temperature can affect the way they live. Some octopuses have become so frustrated that they have performed famous escapes from aquariums around the world. Inky, for example, escaped his tank in a New Zealand aquarium, slithered across the floor and squeezed down a small drainpipe to reach the ocean waves which were lapping outside. Another, was found to be sneaking out of his closed tank in the middle of the night, travelling over to the fish tank where he opened the lid and had a snack on a few fish before closing the lid and moving back to his home, hiding all evidence of his endeavours. Whether these acts were driven by boredom, curiosity, playfulness or a desire to escape are unknown but it shows that these creatures need more excitement than the four walls of a tank can provide.

The final welfare issue regarding octopus farming is to do with the level of pain these creatures might feel. In 2021, the UK announced that octopuses, alongside crabs and lobsters, are sentient beings. This means that they are able to process information and feel something in response to it, whilst they can also evaluate both their own and others’ actions and learn their consequences. Crucially however, the studies found that octopuses can feel not just joy and excitement but also pain and distress. Whilst their brains have 80 million neurons, their arms have a whopping 300 million! This means that their arms can taste and touch independently without the brain being involved at all, making them fairly unique in the animal kingdom. It is also this trait that makes the slaughter of these animals incredibly tricky and no reliably humane method has yet been found. In order to be a humane death, the animal must feel no pain and be immediately unconscious before death. Yet with decentralised nervous systems, it is incredibly difficult to kill octopuses quickly as targeting the brain simply isn’t enough while we are still uncertain what exactly causes them pain. Whilst their status as sentient beings provides some protection, EU law surrounding farm animal welfare currently only applies to vertebrates, leaving these creatures exposed to exploitation.

As you can see, there are multiple issues and questions still surrounding octopus farming and that is why many are questioning the Spanish company who believe they have found the solution. So far, the company have not explained the sizes of their tanks, the density the animals will be living in or their kill methods. Some scientists are even questioning whether their whole idea of protecting wild populations will be successful. If more octopus is available, won’t we just consume more? Many are arguing that the solution is to reframe octopus meat as a delicacy and charge top market price for those who want to eat it. As well as the issue of animal welfare, there is also the question of sustainability. Octopuses are hungry eaters, requiring two to three times their body weight in food which is often in the form of small crustaceans but surely if it’s more food that we are after we should just be eating these smaller animals? As wild fish populations plummet and the issue of food security rises, it seems that farmers are going to have to work a lot harder to justify raising carnivores.

Researchers have now stated that they believe high welfare octopus farming to be impossible to achieve, yet in practical terms, it seems we are now in a position where this form of aquaculture can begin. Should we repeat our mistakes we made hundreds of years ago when we began farming cows and pigs without thought for their sentience? If octopuses are not essential for food security, should we cage this complex, intelligent being? It seems that businesses and governments are moving ahead with these plans but maybe the consumers will recognise the potential welfare and environmental issues which hover over the project.

By Neve McCracken-Heywood