Spain wants to open the world’s first octopus farm – why is this problematic?

If you ask a Galician about their favorite tapa, they will probably answer:

Galician-style octopus – Northern Spain loves the sea creature’s cooked tentacles, served with olive oil, salt and jacket potatoes. What used to be considered a poor man’s dish has become a delicacy across the country and is now an integral part of Spanish tapas menus.

But while demand for cephalopods has increased, natural stocks in the sea have declined significantly. To continue to satisfy the hunger, Nueva Pescanova, the largest fish company in the country, now wants to breed the animals on an industrial scale.

The plan caused a storm of indignation far beyond the country’s borders. This is (everything) behind it:

The race for a breakthrough in industrial octopus farming has been going on since the 1960s. Unlike other marine animals, cephalopods are difficult to reproduce in captivity. In addition, the larvae only eat live food, so the cephalopods cannot be fed.

But in 2019, the largest Spanish fishing group Nueva Pescanova, based on the Galician Atlantic coast, reported a breakthrough in the reproduction and breeding of octopuses in aquaculture. The recipe for success has not yet reached the general public. However, it is known that the first octopus farm in Gran Canaria will open this summer.

The breeding facility is already in place and is located in the port of the capital of the Canary Island, Las Palmas. The company pursues big goals: in a two-storey industrial building – unlike other marine animal farms, the squid is not farmed in the sea – up to one million squid must be reared annually. About 3000 tons of octopus meat can be produced from this – and exported all over the world. To put this in perspective, about 5 million squid are caught from the sea every year worldwide.

The most common squid species in Europe – the Octopus vulgaris – lays 200,000 eggs throughout its life, but catches in Europe are decreasing every year. Even in Spain, 90 percent of the squid consumed today comes from abroad, mainly from Morocco or Mauritania.

To keep the stocks in the sea in balance, the Spanish government has introduced catch quotas and closed seasons. In some places it is not allowed to catch octopus in the summer. This led to criminal activity: more and more cheaper octopuses from abroad were sold under a false label as local delicacies.

Is industrial breeding the solution to all these problems?

The Nueva Pescanova company prides itself on being a “pioneer” and glorifies itself as the savior in the crisis of dwindling octopuses with the construction of the breeding facility. But aquaculture is not really sustainable either.

According to marine biologists, the fish food for the farmed octopus weighs more than two or even three times the weight of the cephalopods. Breeding therefore does not combat overfishing of the seas.

In addition, the farm would create new jobs, but for traditional fishermen the project would mean another existential threat in addition to the drastic decline of fish stocks in the sea.

The project is questionable not only from an ecological point of view, but also from an ethical point of view.

The octopus not only has eight legs, but also nine brains and three hearts. Studies show that the sea creature is a sentient creature that senses pain and actively tries to avoid it. Octopuses are solitary creatures and prefer the dark.

“Large numbers of octopuses should never be kept close together. This leads to stress, conflict and high mortality,” said Jonathan Birch, a professor at the London School of Economics and an expert on animal welfare and animal ethics. According to a leaked document obtained by the BBC, the animals will be raised en masse in lit water tanks. According to critics, it is not even remotely possible that the animals are kept species-specific.

The founders of breeding share a different opinion: “If the animal did not feel well, it would not reproduce.” But even the managers expect that about 10 to 15 percent will not survive the rearing. Nevertheless, the expansion of aquaculture is considered necessary and justified for the sustainable nutrition of the world’s population.

Another controversial point is the slaughter method. If the animals survive their larval phase, they are ready for slaughter after 15 months. The pulpos are then killed in the ice-cold water – a method of slaughter that studies suggest means a slow, painful and stressful death for the animals.

The main problem: there are still no animal welfare rules, because squids have never been commercially farmed.

The Spanish fishing group Nueva Pescanova is one of the world’s largest companies in the industry. The company emerged from the ruins of the bankrupt Pescanova company. The family business Pescanova was founded in the 1960s and has expanded to numerous countries. In 2013, accountants discovered inconsistencies in the accounting – making it the largest insolvency in Spain at the time, amounting to 3.6 million. Former President Manuel Fernández de Sousa was recently sentenced to six years in prison for fraudulent accounting.

In 2015, the company was restructured and re-established. The company currently employs approximately 12,000 people in 19 countries. Despite a turnover of more than one billion euros, the company is struggling with a mountain of debt of 450 million euros.

Bank Abanca controls almost 98 percent of the fishing company and has capitalized the old company’s debt. As the Spanish newspaper “Hispanidad” reports, the bank is currently looking for a majority shareholder. Talks are reportedly underway with Canadian company Cooke Inc. It is the world’s largest fish and seafood company, which also relies on aquaculture.

The fishing company is well networked anyway.

The leader of the Spanish People’s Party (PP) and former Galician Minister of Agriculture and Health, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, was behind the project. The fish company has also joined the charitable foundation of the powerful Spanish Ortega family. Amancio Ortega – also a Galician – is one of the richest men in Europe. He owns the Inditex Group, the world’s largest textile company, with eight retail brands, including Zara, Massimo Dutti and Oysho.

Nueva Pescanova already has the patent for growing octopus larvae in the bag. The approval of the Canarian environmental authority is still missing. Animal welfare activists have been fighting the project for some time. They haven’t given up hope yet.

The Spanish animal welfare organization Pacma has called for worldwide protests. At the same time, there is a petition addressed to the EU Commission for Agriculture and Rural Development. The project received international attention, mainly because of its uniqueness and concern for the well-being of the intelligent animals, which continue to amaze researchers.

The animal rights activists have already achieved success: some Spanish supermarket chains refused to buy commercially bred octopuses in advance.