Say no to octopus farming in Europe!

Thanks to a proposal, submitted by the Dutch Party for the Animals last week, the Dutch government has to actively oppose the opening of an intensive octopus farm in the EU. The Party for the Animals’ appeal was supported by most of the House of Representatives.

© Laura Lee Cascada / We Animals Media 2022

Octopus at an octopus farm in Hawaii, where octopuses, caught in the wild, are kept for aquacultural experiments.

With this proposal, the Party for the Animals has responded to plans to open a large-scale octopus farm in Las Palmas (Spain) for the production of octopus meat for human consumption. Plans that scientists, organizations such as Compassion in World Farming and the Spanish sister party PACMA also vehemently oppose. Opponents of this new animal industry point out that breeding octopuses entails unacceptable animal suffering and contributes to the huge problem of overfishing, as the octopuses are fed with fish.

“Octopuses are highly intelligent and solitary animals, and scientists warn that octopus farms are associated with severe animal suffering. That is why we have asked the government to actively advocate against octopus farms in Europe,” according to Frank Wassenberg and Leonie Vestering. They are members of parliament for the Party for the Animals and initiators of the proposal. Earlier, MEP Anja Hazekamp of the Party for the Animals called on the European Commission to put an end to industrial fish farms and to prevent the start-up of the octopus industry.

Sign!
Pollution, feces, algae, antibiotics and the increased risk of disease in tanks or seanet cages – the arguments against the octopus industry are clear and manifold. As Professor Jennifer Jacquet of New York University says, “In the 21st century, there is no reason to make a sophisticated, complex animal the source of mass-produced food."

The Animal Save Movement therefore calls for a boycott of the Canary Islands until its plans for the octopus farm are withdrawn. Make a stand, too, and sign the petition.