INTERCIDS proposes a legislative ban on octopus farming in Spain

Noticias

May, 2025 [Press Release]

D. Picchiottino / Unsplash

An organisation of judges, prosecutors, lawyers and law enforcement agents in Spain has presented politicians with a legislative proposal that aims to proactively prohibit octopus farming across the country. Although this activity is currently non-existent in Spain, a multinational plans to develop commercial operations for the intensive breeding and slaughter of captive octopuses. This proposal addresses the widespread opposition towards octopus aquaculture expressed by scientists, environmental protection and animal welfare organisations and even the general public. ‘Given the foreseeable harms of this activity, it is a matter of public responsibility,’ INTERCIDS claims.

Already in 2021, when the multinational Nueva Pescanova applied for a permit to build an octopus farm in Spain, the first in the world, the prospect of octopus factory farms provoked a huge public outcry. Since then, citizens, scientists and NGOs have continually called on public authorities to take measures to prevent this type of activity in the country. The growing opposition to octopus farming in Spain and elsewhere is due to the cruelty of subjecting these unique animals to captive breeding conditions, to the slow and painful methods of slaughter and to its harmful effects on the already deteriorating marine environment. To date, octopuses used for food are caught in the wild, mainly by artisanal fisheries. There are no regulations in place for these types of farms, which is why the association INTERCIDS, Legal Operators for Animals, has drafted a proposal that aims to directly establish a ban on octopus farming.

A highly intelligent wild animal that will suffer in these farms

The scientific literature documents that octopuses have remarkable cognitive abilities and display a wide range of complex behaviours. Octopuses exhibit both short and long-term memory, curiosity and the ability to explore, sophisticated hunting and anti-predator strategies, use tools, solve problems, learn, plan and anticipate. Scientific evidence also indicates that octopuses can suffer both physical and emotional pain, as well as remember past suffering and experience fear.

The confinement and captive breeding of these intelligent and inquisitive animals is not only cruel but also harms some of the natural attributes and remarkable abilities of this unique wild animal. Octopuses are carnivorous and mostly solitary animals that are especially ill-suited for the confinement and the exceedingly dull living conditions required for commercial octopus aquaculture. It has been amply documented that in situations of confinement and forced proximity to other octopuses, they often show signs of distress and many of these animals engage in self-mutilation and cannibalism. Moreover, there is evidence that the lack of environmental stimulation can have a detrimental impact on the octopus’ cognitive attributes and abilities.

However, profitable octopus farming would require maximizing production above all else. This entails prioritizing that a huge number of animals grow rapidly to reach their slaughter weight while minimizing resources, particularly those that do not impact the animals’ weight gain, such as tank space, environmental enrichment and cognitive stimulation. Indeed, in an article by Ashifa Kassam (The Guardian, 25 June, 2023) spokespeople for Nueva Pescanova’s research facility, where 50 male adult octopuses were held in a tank ‘the size of a budget hotel room’, indicated that they aim to ‘increase the density in order to make it economically profitable’, also stressing the importance of ‘conditions tailored to promote growth in every phase’. According to these representatives, although researchers elsewhere are afraid to group two or three octopuses together, they have succeeded in housing large numbers of octopuses in small tanks due to an ‘indirect selection process’, adding also that they have gradually removed items that were initially meant to provide an enriched environment, as ‘they weren’t needed’.

INTERCIDS declares that ‘keeping these animals confined in these barren tanks and in extremely close proximity to other octopuses is not only cruel but means destroying them, forcing them to live a life which is absolutely incompatible with their needs, in an environment without stimulation that impairs their natural cognitive attributes and puts them at risk of injury, disease. And there is not even a method to effectively stun octopuses before killing them. No way to reduce their suffering, their pain and distress’.

Numerous harmful consequences for the vulnerable marine environment

At this time, when the protection of marine ecosystems and biodiversity has become an increasingly necessary and urgent challenge, the foreseeable risk of negative impacts and damage to the ocean associated with the introduction of intensive farming of captive octopuses cannot be ignored. Some of those negative impacts include:

The dumping of waste and recycled water into the sea, which alters the aquatic environment, detrimentally affecting various species.
The use of chemical and toxic products that can pollute the environment and even threaten public health.
CO₂ emissions that contribute to the greenhouse effect.
Light pollution that affects various animal species, individually and also at the population level.
The problems caused by the bad smells produced by these farms.
The risk that these altered octopuses bred in captivity, with diminished capacity and modified attributes and behaviours, may be accidentally or otherwise released into the sea, negatively affecting other octopuses and the ecological balance.

In addition, aquaculture with carnivorous species such as octopus entails a problem of unsustainability and inefficiency in the use of natural resources, and not only because of its very high energy and water consumption requirements: the huge number of octopuses held in these facilities would need to be fed on protein from other aquatic animal species, which leads to increased fishing pressure on crustaceans and fish stocks.

‘All these negative consequences, on the animals and on the already fragile marine environment, cannot be sustained in favour of the mass industrial production of octopuses, which is neither a staple food nor responds to food security needs’ says INTERCIDS. That is why this association of law professionals is promoting its legal ban.

Amendment of the Spanish Marine Farming Law

INTERCIDS’ proposal -which has been submitted to the Parliamentary Association for the Defence of Animal Rights (APDDA)- aims to amend the national Law 23/1984, of 25th June, on marine farming or aquaculture, in order to prohibit: octopus aquaculture; the breeding of octopuses for purposes of consumption, as well as any other productive purposes; and the commercialization of octopus coming from any of these activities.

INTERCIDS argues that the amendment of the forementioned law is fully consistent with the ‘Strategic guidelines for a more sustainable and competitive EU aquaculture for the period 2021-2030’, including the European Commission’s guidelines that state that aquaculture should use ‘feed ingredients that are sourced in the way that is most respectful of ecosystems and biodiversity and which, at the same time, are appropriate for ensuring the health and welfare of the animals’. Octopus farming is unlikely to be able to comply with these directives and this should also be another reason to ban the activity.

The precautionary principle

‘It is the public authorities’ duty to protect the environment and animals. And they have to do so by applying the precautionary principle’, asserts INTERCIDS. As this entity of law professionals explains, this essential legal principle is invoked when an activity may have potentially dangerous effects. In such cases, action should be taken to prevent the activity or to implement measures that can effectively prevent harmful consequences.

‘In the case of octopus farming, this would entail a completely new activity, for which no specific regulations exist and yet we already know will inevitably result in harmful consequences for these animals and for the environment. In light of these negative impacts, as a crucial precaution, octopus farming should be banned. And considering that so far it is a non-existent activity, the time to ban it is now. This is a matter of public responsibility’.

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