Debates over tentacled creatures

 

Cephalopods play an important role in Korean seafood dishes and they are one of my (and Leo’s) favorite dishes. Currently, the global octopus trade is worth over 2.7 billion $.

Recently, there are heated debates over octopuses as food ingredients and their farming. The debates over these tentacled animals have started when the Spanish company ‘Nueva Pescanova’ revealed its proposal to open an octopus farm in a harbor in Las Palmas in the Canary Island in 2021. According to media coverages, this proposal is the largest private investment in the history on the island. In the same year ‘Compassion in world farming’ released a report, arguing that octopus farming is cruel and could cause environmental damage to oceans. The report mentions that the experimental trials to farm octopuses reveal that the mortality rate in these systems would be around 20%, meaning that 1 in 5 individuals would not survive the whole production cycle.

People against the farming plan mentioned that they feared several practices put forward by the company.

1) Killing octopuses using ice slurry is a highly aversive and inhumane method and scientifically proven to cause considerable pain, fear, and suffering as well as prolonged death

2) Confined in crowed, barren underwater tank that will result in poor welfare and risk of territorial aggression and even cannibalism due to the octopuses’ naturally solitary lifestyle.

3) Exposing to round-the-clock light to increase reproduction, which will cause undue stress

4) Feeding with commercial feeds is unsustainable and contributes to the overfishing of wild populations of sea creatures that are used to make feeds

5) Raising within a land-based systems may cause risk of mass mortality and excessive use of energy, detrimental to the environment

However, the proponents of the farming maintain that the proposed method is sustainable and will reduce pressure on wild populations of octopus. As you may also know, octopuses and other cephalopods have become increasingly popular foods in recent decades, causing remarkable decrease in numbers of wild octopus. Octopuses caught around the world reached 400,000 tons (in 2015), which is 10 times more than in 1950. Based on such statistics, the company argues that there is a need for octopus farming. Officials from the company cited the results of studies conducted by Spanish institute of oceanography; it has been shown that octopuses adapt normally to group living environment without territorial aggression.

As being an adventurous foodie, a tropical fish hobbyist, and a pet lover, I am absolutely against eating dogs, but I think that any sea creatures that are not endangered could be considered ingredients of sea foods. Octopuses have long been one of the favorites of many gourmets around the world and there seem to be consensus that catching and cooking them is acceptable practices. Octopuses are rich in protein, amino acid, vitamins, minerals and low in fat, making them further desirable. What we need may be more studies to mitigate negative impacts of farm growing and investigate better ways to mass product. Usage of regenerative energy sources must be considered to power the aquacultural systems.

As is the case with any issues regarding animal welfare, I think current debates have deeper and profound roots. It is tricky to tell you which animals can be killed for foods without sense of guilt. To survive, living creatures always need to hunt other living creatures. Obviously, not a single life on this planet is free from this fact. And simply plants can not scream does not mean they are lifeless thus vegetarians are not free from this inevitability at all.