<
https://theconversation.com/why-the-ethics-of-octopus-farming-are-so-troubling-202012>
"Octopus is a popular ingredient in many cuisines, with some 420,000 metric
tonnes of this mollusc being caught worldwide each year. The rising global
popularity of octopus has been attributed to the increasingly adventurous
tastes of younger consumers, its nutritional benefits and the decline of
traditional fish stocks such as cod. This helps explain why the food processing
corporation, Nueva Pescanova, aims to build the world’s first indoor octopus
farm in Gran Canaria: a thousand-tank facility for producing 3,000 tonnes of
octopus a year.
Octopuses can pile on a staggering 5% of their body weight in a day which makes
them an appealing prospect for aquaculture, though they are notoriously
difficult to breed in captivity. Nueva Pescanova claims to have made an
important scientific breakthrough, however, which will allow them to raise
successive generations of
Octopus vulgaris, otherwise known as the Atlantic
common octopus. The firm argues that farming octopus will reduce fishing
methods such as sea-bed trawling, for example, and ensure a supply of
“marine-based food” while also “relieving pressure on wild fishing grounds”.
But it is no simple matter for consumers to weigh up the costs and benefits of
eating farmed fish and marine animals. It is tempting to believe that organised
systems reduce the risk of overfishing, but it is also well established that
fish farms and other forms of aquaculture pollute coastal waters with
pharmaceuticals and faeces. Added to this is the serious moral issue of
confining sentient creatures to industrial food systems.
Researchers have suggested that, as particularly intelligent and playful
creatures, octopuses are unsuited to a life in captivity and mass-production.
Animal rights activists argue that farming octopuses will, based on this
evidence, induce needless suffering on an unprecedented scale."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
