A five-year campaign against plans by Spanish multinational Nueva Pescanova to establish an octopus farm on Gran Canaria has led to a climbdown.
Compassion in World Farming (CiWF) has announced that Nueva Pescanova has shelved plans that would have kept around a million octopus per year in tanks, ‘despite clear evidence that these animals cannot be farmed or slaughtered humanely.’
This ‘announcement marks the victory of our five-year campaign to stop the controversial project, including a recent push which resulted in more than 43,000 emails to Las Palmas Port Authorities, calling on them to officially close the planning application,’ CiWF states, and a representative commented that Nueva Pescanova’s farm would have entailed devastating environmental, food security, and biodiversity impacts, as well as requiring around 28,000 tonnes of wild-caught fish in its first year to produce just 3000 tonnes of octopus meat.
‘After years of pressure, this is a huge victory for octopuses, our oceans and everyone who joined us in campaigning to stop the world’s first octopus farm,’ said Senior Research and Policy Advisor Dr Elena Lara.
‘Octopuses are intelligent, wild animals, not products to be caged in factory farms. The decision to abandon this project sends a powerful message that the future of food must not be built on animal suffering. Now governments must go further by banning octopus farming and preventing the expansion of carnivorous aquaculture.’
