New company plans for octopus breeding – Project 1882 raises animal welfare concerns

Fishing company Grupo Profand has recently received a permit for a research hatchery in Moaña, Spain. This has raised significant concerns from a wide range of individuals, including concerned citizens, marine biologists, politicians, and animal rights activists. Despite the company's claims of optimizing the larval stage of octopuses without commercial purposes, their permit application suggests that the research is for industrial exploitation. 

– The growing interest in breeding octopuses for commercial purposes is very concerning. The EU must ensure that these sentient creatures are protected against being raised in captivity, says Benny Andersson, CEO of Project 1882 

In May 2023, Project 1882 launched a campaign against the Spanish seafood company Nueva Pescanova, which had plans to establish the world's first commercial octopus farm. The plans were met with widespread criticism, from environmentalists, marine biologists, politicians and animal rights activists, leading the Canary Islands government to reject the company's simplified environmental impact assessment in 2023. 

In the USA, bans on octopus farming have been introduced in Washington and California, and a bill has been introduced in Congress to prohibit commercial octopus farming nationwide. Canada has also introduced a similar bill at the federal level. 

Project 1882 continues to urge the EU Commission to ban farming of octopuses throughout the EU to prevent the immense suffering this industry would cause. Sign the petition today!