How the Octopus Got to the Senate

Octopuses are famously smart: they can recognize individual humans, solve problems, and even keep gardens. They are also a popular food for humans: around 350,000 tons of octopus are caught worldwide each year, and demand is only growing. Some governments and start-ups have invested significant resources into domesticating octopus, and the world’s first octopus farm may soon open in Spain’s Canary Islands. 

But should octopus be farmed at all? That question is being debated in several pieces of legislation right now, including a bipartisan US Senate bill. For Jennifer Jacquet, professor of environmental science and policy at the University of Miami, the answer is a resounding no. For the last decade, she has worked to end octopus farming before it begins, as she wrote in Issues in 2019. On this episode, Jacquet discusses why octopuses are poor candidates for farming, the growing social movements around octopus protection, and why we need public conversations about new technologies before investments begin. 

Resources:

• Read “The Case Against Octopus Farming,” Jennifer Jacquet’s Issues piece, co-authored with Becca Franks, Peter Godfrey-Smith, and Walter Sánchez-Suárez. 

• Learn more about US legislation to end octopus farming: 

• Washington HB 1153: the first state to pass an octopus farming ban. 

• California A.B. 3162: the second state to pass one. 

• The OCTOPUS ACT of 2024: a bipartisan US Senate bill currently up for debate. 

• Check out the Science letter authored by 100 scientists and experts calling for congressional support of the OCTOPUS Act. 

• Read this Guardian article to learn more about the potential octopus farm.

• Explore a recent survey of American attitudes towards animal issues, including octopus farming on page 18-19.