Latest news with #JointCommitteeonAgriculture
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
South Coast lawmaker makes multi-limbed argument against octopus farming
A South Coast lawmaker is pushing a bill that would ban the commercial farming of octopus for food, citing ethical concerns about the treatment of what he says are one of the ocean's most intelligent creatures. Testifying on his bill before the Joint Committee on Agriculture on Tuesday, Rep. Christopher Hendricks, D-11th Bristol, described octopi as having a 'level of sentience and awareness that is exceptional in the animal kingdom.' 'Octopus display problem-solving ability, short and long-term memory, play behaviors, even signs of individual personality. Their capacity for suffering is now widely acknowledged by the scientific communities,' he said. Hendricks emphasized that the bill specifically targets commercial aquaculture of octopi for human consumption, which he said involves 'raising them in really confined, barren tanks, commercial tanks, for food production.' 'As a Portuguese-American from New Bedford, I have no interest in banning octopus consumption throughout the commonwealth,' he clarified. Instead, the bill targets only the farming and sale of farm-raised octopi, and does not affect the consumption or sale of octopi caught in the wild. Framing the proposal as a preventative measure, he emphasized that no octopus farms currently exist in the state. 'Let's nip this in the bud,' he urged. Rep. James Arena-DeRosa, 8th Middlesex, who also sits on the panel, said advocates have been active around this issue. 'And you're absolutely right, that it's not an industry yet, so we're not hurting anybody, as far as we know,' Arena-DeRosa said. Springfield protests loss of $20M federal grant to protect environment 'Such a stain': Here's what pushed a major Trump loyalist to break with him Trump's 'big beautiful bill?' Not so much, Mass. pols say, as GOP rolls it out Is Worcester breaking Open Meeting Law by going virtual? What the AG's office says Mass. Gov. Healey pitches energy plan to save $10B over 10 years Read the original article on MassLive.
