21-05-2025
Massachusetts lawmaker wants to ban octopus farms in the state. Here's what he has to say
NEW BEDFORD – State Rep. Chris Hendricks says he's not against enjoying a well-prepared dish featuring octopus but that the aquaculture farming of the brainy cephalopods would be unsuitable.
The New Bedford Democrat's bill, H.127, would prohibit farming them for human consumption and would pack an up to $1,000-per-day penalty. It would also prohibit the sale of farmed octopus in Massachusetts.
The law would not apply to wild-caught octopuses or octopuses raised for research purposes.
Similar bans have been passed in Washington and California, and are being considered in Oregon, Hawaii, Connecticut and New Jersey.
While there are no octopus farms in the United States yet, there is one proposed by Nueva Pescanova in Spain's Canary Islands that has stirred opposition. It would raise about 1 million octopuses per year in 1,000 indoor tanks.
Hendricks testified on behalf of his bill before the Joint Committee on Agriculture on May 13, saying octopuses have been shown to possess rare sentience. They've demonstrated problem-solving skills, play activity, and long- and short-term memory.
They have 500 million neurons that make up their brain, which are located throughout their bodies, Hendricks said.
They also have a capacity for suffering that would be exacerbated by being raised in crowded, barren tanks. Critics of the proposed Canary Islands farm have said that octopuses are solitary creatures by nature, not meant to be jammed together.
There are environmental consequences, as well. They excrete ammonia, which would require either space or immense amounts of water to flush out tanks.
It would wreak havoc on the wild population, Hendricks added. For one thing, it would lower the price of octopus and spur overfishing.
Hendricks said the committee seemed open to giving the bill a fair appraisal.
'This animal is for so many reasons unsuitable for that type of factory farming,' he said.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Rep. Hendricks: Factory farming intelligent octopi should be banned
