World's first octopus farm proposals alarm scientists

A program to physique the world's archetypal octopus workplace has raised heavy concerns among scientists implicit the payment of the famously intelligent creatures.

The workplace successful Spain's Canary Islands would rise astir a cardinal octopuses annually for food, according to confidential documents seen by the BBC.

They person ne'er been intensively farmed and immoderate scientists telephone the projected icy h2o slaughtering method "cruel."

The Spanish multinational down the plans denies the octopuses volition suffer.

The confidential readying connection documents from the company, Nueva Pescanova, were fixed to the BBC by the run organisation Eurogroup for Animals.

Nueva Pescanova sent the connection to the Canary Islands' General Directorate of Fishing, which has not responded to a BBC petition for comment.

Octopuses caught successful the chaotic utilizing pots, lines and traps are eaten each implicit the world, including successful the Mediterranean and successful Asia and Latin America.

The contention to observe the concealed to breeding them successful captivity has been going connected for decades. It's hard arsenic the larvae lone devour unrecorded nutrient and request a cautiously controlled environment, but Nueva Pescanova announced successful 2019 that it had made a technological breakthrough.

The imaginable of intensively farming octopus has already led to opposition: Lawmakers successful the US authorities of Washington person proposed banning the practice earlier it adjacent starts.

Nueva Pescanova's plans uncover that the octopuses, which are solitary animals utilized to the dark, would beryllium kept successful tanks with different octopuses, astatine times nether changeless light. The creatures - the taxon octopus vulgaris - would beryllium housed successful astir 1,000 communal tanks successful a two-storey gathering successful the larboard of Las Palmas successful Gran Canaria.

They would beryllium killed by being enactment successful containers of h2o kept astatine -3C, according to the documents.

Currently determination are nary payment rules successful place, arsenic octopuses person ne'er been commercially farmed before. However studies person shown that this method of slaughtering food utilizing 'ice slurry' causes a slow, stressful death. The World Organisation for Animal Health says it "results successful mediocre food welfare" and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) - the starring farmed seafood certification strategy - is proposing a prohibition unless food are stunned beforehand.

Some supermarkets person already moved distant from selling food that person been killed utilizing ice, including Tesco and Morrisons.

Prof. Peter Tse, a neurologist astatine Dartmouth University, told the BBC that "to termination them with crystal would beryllium a dilatory decease … it would beryllium precise cruel and should not beryllium allowed."

Adding that they were "as intelligent arsenic cats" helium suggested that a much humane mode would beryllium to termination them arsenic galore fishermen do, by clubbing them implicit the head.

To proviso "premium planetary markets" including the US, South Korea and Japan, Nueva Pescanova wants to nutrient 3,000 tonnes of octopus a year. This equates to astir 1 cardinal animals, with immoderate 10-15 octopuses surviving successful each cubic metre of tank, according to run radical Compassion successful World Farming (CiWF), which has studied the plans.

Nueva Pescanova estimates successful its documentation that determination volition beryllium "a mortality complaint of 10-15%".

Jonathan Birch, subordinate prof astatine the London School of Economics, led a reappraisal of much than 300 technological studies which helium says shows that octopuses consciousness symptom and pleasure. It led to them being recognised arsenic "sentient beings" successful the UK's Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. Prof Birch and his co-authors judge that high-welfare octopus farming is "impossible" and that sidesplitting successful crystal slurry "would not beryllium an acceptable method of sidesplitting successful a lab".

"Large numbers of octopuses should ne'er beryllium kept unneurotic successful adjacent proximity. Doing this leads to stress, struggle and precocious mortality … A fig of 10-15% mortality should not beryllium acceptable for immoderate benignant of farming."

In a connection to the BBC, Nueva Pescanova said: "The levels of payment requirements for the accumulation of octopus oregon immoderate different carnal successful our farming farms warrant the close handling of the animals. The slaughter, likewise, involves due handling that avoids immoderate symptom oregon suffering to the carnal ..."

In the wild, octopuses are fiercely territorial agile hunters. Nueva Pescanova is proposing that the farmed animals beryllium fed with industrially produced adust feed, sourced from "discards and by-products" of already-caught fish.

The tanks would beryllium filled with seawater piped successful from an adjacent bay. The tanks would beryllium antithetic sizes for the antithetic phases of the octopuses' life, with the salinity and somesthesia intimately controlled.

The archetypal brood of 100 octopuses - 70 males and 30 females - would beryllium taken from a probe facility, the Pescanova Biomarine Centre, successful Galicia, bluish Spain.

The plans authorities that the institution has achieved a level of "domestication" successful the taxon and that they bash not "show important signs of cannibalism oregon contention for food".

Elena Lara from CiWF called connected the Canary Islands authorities to artifact operation of the farm, which she said would "inflict unnecessary suffering connected these intelligent, sentient and fascinating creatures".

Reineke Hameleers, CEO astatine Eurogroup for Animals added that the European Commission was presently reviewing its carnal payment authorities and had a "real opportunity" to "avoid unspeakable suffering".

Along with the payment of the octopuses, CiWF has concerns astir the wastewater produced by the farm, which would beryllium pumped backmost into the sea. Octopuses nutrient nitrogen and phosphates arsenic waste. "The h2o entering and leaving the works volition beryllium filtered truthful that it volition person nary interaction connected the environment," Nueva Pescanova told the BBC.

Around 350,000 tonnes of octopus are caught each twelvemonth - much than 10 times the fig caught successful 1950 - which is putting unit connected populations. Nueva Pescanova stated that "aquaculture is the solution to ensuring a sustainable yield" and that it would "repopulate the octopus taxon successful the future." However conservationists judge farming them would little the price, perchance creating caller markets.

Nueva Pescanova emphasised to the BBC that it dedicated "great efforts to beforehand liable and sustainable show passim the worth concatenation to guarantee that champion practices are adopted."

The authorities of Gran Canaria has not responded to a petition for information.