Plans for world's first octopus farm cancelled:
CIWF celebrates success after 5 years of campaigning
Compassion in World Farming www.ciwf.nl
The plans of the Spanish company Nueva Pescanova to build the world's first octopus farm in the port of Las Palmas on Gran Canaria have been scrapped. After five years of campaigning against the farm, which would be a nightmare for the well-being of the hyper-intelligent, sensitive octopus, animal welfare organization Compassion in World Farming has achieved success.
Robert Cianflone/Getty Images]
Annemarie Brijder, Aquatic Animal Welfare Campaigner for Compassion in World Farming Netherlands: “We are incredibly greatfull! This is a major victory for the octopus and for all those thousands of people worldwide dedicated to protecting it. This beautiful, hyper-intelligent, sensitive animal does not belong locked up in a cage. It is now up to governments and the EU to ban octopus farming for good, before it can start elsewhere.”
Annually, 1 million – naturally solitary – octopuses would be kept in crowded, bare tanks in the planned hatchery, which would lead to great animal suffering: including stress, aggression, and cannibalism. Moreover, there is no scientifically approved method to kill the animals as painlessly as possible.
The farm would not only be a disaster for the welfare of these animals, but would also lead to environmental pollution and food waste. The animals would be fed wild-caught fish, which would put even greater pressure on already overfished oceans. In the first year, approximately 28,000 tonnes of wild-caught fish would be needed as feed to produce just 3,000 tonnes of octopus meat [1] .
Campaigning for years
The plans led to global outrage among animal welfare organizations, scientists, activists, and the general public. Today's news follows a recent campaign by Compassion in World Farming to urge the Port Authority of Las Palmas to officially withdraw the building permit application for the farm. The company had failed to submit the required environmental impact assessments. More than 43,000 emails were sent to the authority, including thousands from the Dutch.
Earlier today, the port authority confirmed that Nueva Pescanova is abandoning its plans to build the nursery in Las Palmas. Compassion in World Farming has campaigned for five years to stop the project. During that period, the organization published three major investigative reports, launched an open letters and postcard campaign in which many Dutch people participated, and mobilized other NGOs, experts, and celebrities to join the campaign.
Many people feel a connection with the octopus, especially after seeing the Oscar-winning documentary 'My Octopus Teacher', in which the general public was introduced to this incredibly intelligent, curious animal with the almost magical ability to change shape in a flash.
TIMELINE
2021
In response to the plans for the world's first breeding facility, we published an extensive report with eight reasons not to keep this eight-armed animal in breeding facilities. The report led to a wave of outrage worldwide, including in the Netherlands.
2023
In February 2023, the US state of Washington announced it might ban farming. This followed the closure of a center in Hawaii where experiments with octopus farming were being conducted in secret. Thanks in part to our campaign, the octopus farm was forced to cease operations.
2024
Together with Eurogroup for Animals, we are publishing 'Exposing the environmental risks of octopus farming' : a new report in which we highlight the enormous damage to nature and the environment if the plans for the octopus farm go ahead.
2025
In the summer, we sent a digital holiday postcard en message to the official Tourist Office on Gran Canaria, with the message: we would much rather come to your island without an octopus farm! On World Octopus Day, October 8, we are releasing a new report: 'The Growing Threat of Carnivorous Aquaculture' and asking key policymakers to support an end to octopus farming.
2026
With two new campaigns, a petition to the Spanish Minister of Agriculture , and massive protest emails to the Port Authority of Gran Canaria , we continue to mount the pressure to stop the first octopus farm in Spain. There is also good news from the United States: after Washington and California, New York is the third state to ban inhumane farming .
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