As per the most recent research has been published in the Issues in Science and Technology Journal, Researchers have remarked that plans to create ‘octopus farms’ in coastal waters around the globe are ‘ethically inexcusable’ and ‘environmentally dangerous’ and called on private companies, academic institutions and governments to block funding for these ventures. At the same time, Many Universities and companies are greatly investing time and capital into ‘farming octopus’, which the concerned research believe is a very big mistake.
Moreover, For many environmentalists and related authors, “farming octopuses would require the catching of vast amounts of ‘fish’ and ‘shellfish’ to feed them, putting further pressure on the planet’s already threatened marine livestock”. Meanwhile, The group, led by assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at New York University assumed that, “octopuses are highly intelligent, curious creatures and farming them intensively would probably cause large numbers of deaths from stress”.
As per researchers pointed out, “We can see no causes why, in the 21st century, a sophisticated, complex animal should become the source of mass-produced food, they eat fish and shellfish, and supplying enough to feed large numbers of them puts further pressure on the food chain, and it is quite unsustainable”. Hence, Octopus factory farming is “ethically and ecologically unjustified”..
A 2015 report of the Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation on the prospects for octopus aquaculture notes: “Octopus is now supplied as raw fresh and/or frozen product for use in local restaurants and cafes and value-added marinated varieties suitable for gourmet delicatessen outlets and supermarkets.”
According to Jacquet and her co-authors, There are about 300 species of octopus and many behave in surprisingly sophisticated ways. While few have been shown to use tools, Octopuses are also a culinary delicacy. About 350,000 tonnes are caught every year and served in restaurants globally. And the biggest ecological impact of ‘farming octopuses’ would derive from the fact that they are carnivorous animals who depend on fish protein and oil.
Such farms are still at the development stage, stated Peter Godfrey-Smith, professor in the School of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney, a contributor to research study. “It is our hope that if such an option does become practical, society will recognize the serious welfare and environmental problems associated with such projects and octopus farming will be discouraged or prevented,” the study mentioned.
Despite the same, Other farming and research projects are being pursued in Australia, Chile, Greece, Italy, Mexico, and Portugal. As many as eight different octopus species are now experimentally farmed in China, and the Japanese seafood company Nissui is reportedly expecting to bring a fully farmed octopus to market using ‘artificial incubation’ by 2020. Consequently, Peter Godfrey-Smith remarked that, “Why should research-study ‘capital-money’ be used to strengthen a study project that will have huge welfare and environmental problems”.
Author: Trilok Singh, (https://trilok.facebook.com), CEO here.
Author’s previous study post, ‘Anger’ is more harmful to the health of older adults than sadness: New Research.
CITATION
Jacquet, Jennifer, Becca Franks, Peter Godfrey-Smith, and Walter Sánchez-Suárez. “The Case Against Octopus Farming.” Issues in Science and Technology 35, no. 2 (Winter 2019): 37–44.
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