Octopuses are not just animals, they are sentient wonders. With three hearts, blue blood, and minds that dream, they navigate their ocean world with intelligence that rivals our own. They solve puzzles, use tools, recognise individual humans, and even decorate their dens with shells. They live socially complex lives and don’t belong in tanks, pens or concrete farms.
Despite this, public funds from the New Zealand taxpayer are being spent in pursuit of factory farming octopuses, aiming to confine these sensitive beings in barren tanks and subject them to crowded, unnatural conditions where stress, cannibalism, and suffering are inevitable. Farming octopuses is not just cruel, it’s environmentally unsustainable. These remarkable creatures feel pain, distress, and frustration as profoundly as other animals we protect.
This is why we sent an open letter to the New Zealand Government, signed by 169 organisations, including members of the Aquatic Animal Alliance, calling for the Government to decline any new funding of projects that aim to develop octopus factory farming.
What is octopus factory farming?
Octopus factory farming is a new method of intensive farming being proposed in some countries, with serious pushback from scientists, environmentalists and animal welfare organisations. Octopuses are highly intelligent animals that suffer in high-density farming environments. Farming them without causing severe suffering is impossible, and allowing this industry to develop would pose significant ethical, environmental, and welfare concerns.
Why we need to stop plans for octopus farming
Animal Welfare Concerns
Octopuses are wild, undomesticated animals that are incompatible with being raised in captivity. They would suffer severely in industrial, high-density farming conditions.
Almost all octopus species are solitary. The species studied for farming in New Zealand, Octopus tetricus, displays complex behaviours and is sensitive to social and spatial stress. Prior attempts to farm this species, including in Australia, reported cannibalism and territorial conflict unless individuals were kept in barren tanks under unnatural conditions.
Octopuses have a full range of emotions and need cognitive stimulation. Due to their physiology, it is impossible to slaughter octopuses without significant suffering. It is also impossible to give them suitably enriched living conditions.
A 2021 London School of Economics review of 300 scientific studies concluded that high-welfare farming of octopuses is not possible.
Environmental Concerns
Octopus farming raises significant environmental concerns due to the production and discharge of effluents into surrounding ecosystems. Even where mitigation measures are claimed (e.g. effluent dispersal or filtration), studies show that nutrient loading (nitrogen, phosphorus) can disrupt coastal ecosystems, drive algal blooms, and harm biodiversity. Relying on ocean currents to “dilute” waste does not eliminate the environmental burden but simply displaces it.
Escape Risks
The risk of octopuses escaping from farms poses a risk to local habitats and wild populations. They have a high potential of transmitting on-farm diseases. Escaping risks not only disease transmission but also ecological imbalance, compounding biodiversity threats.
Unsustainable Feeding Practices
Octopuses are carnivorous, and the increase in the use of fish and other animal products required to feed farmed octopuses is unsustainable. It can take multiple kilograms of wild fish to produce one kilogram of farmed octopus, exacerbating pressure on overfished stocks.
Public Health Risks
Octopus farming poses public health risks, as farmed aquatic animals are vectors of multiple pathogens and zoonotic diseases, including the Vibrio pathogens associated with cholera. Large-scale aquatic farms are a breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria and risk increasing antibiotic resistance.
What is happening overseas?
- Plans to build the world’s first commercial octopus farm in the Canary Islands have been halted due to opposition from scientists, environmentalists and animal welfare organisations.
- Washington State and California (USA) have banned octopus farming, citing ethical and environmental concerns.
- A bipartisan legislation bill was introduced in the USA to ban commercial octopus farming in the U.S. and prohibit imports of farmed octopus from foreign countries. This is still being considered.
- Hawaii, New Jersey and Oregon have all introduced legislation to ban octopus farming.
- Public and corporate opposition is growing, with major retailers like Tesco and Waitrose in the UK banning the sale of aquatic animals killed by inhumane methods.
- Petitions by AVAAZ and Animal Save against the Canary Islands factory farm have gathered over 1.7 million signatures, so far, and a petition to get a European ban on octopus farming has 160,000 signatures.
- A poll commissioned in 2024 by Compassion in World Farming and Eurogroup for Animals showed that 79% of people polled in nine EU countries agreed that when public money is used to fund aquatic animal farming, the money should only support farms that are sustainable.
What does NZ Animal Welfare law currently say?
The New Zealand Animal Welfare Act recognises that octopuses are sentient animals, meaning they feel pain and have feelings, emotions, perceptions, and experiences that matter to them. However, nothing in our laws prevents octopus factory farming from taking place. This means a problematic new way to exploit animals could soon be here.
Why are we asking for octopus farming to be banned before it starts?
We need a preemptive ban on octopus factory farming so it can never come to our shores. While it is currently in the research phase, it will cause extensive harm should it become a reality. It is both unethical and unsustainable. Early-stage research has not demonstrated any pathway to achieving high-welfare farming or ecosystem-neutral farming for octopuses. These concerns are not speculative but evidence-based.
