New Octopus Meat Farm Poses 'Ethical and Ecological' Harms, Scientists Warn.

Nueva Pescanova Group is set to open the first octopus farm in the world in 2023. Although details have remained a secret, the farm is expected to have a capacity to produce over 3,000 metric tons of octopus meat per year.

Octopuses have a food conversion rate of at least 3:1, meaning that the weight of feed necessary to sustain them is about three times the weight of the animal. Given the depleted state of global fisheries and the challenges of providing adequate nutrition to a growing human population, increased farming of carnivorous species such as octopus will act counter to the goal of improving global food security. But even if aquaculture researchers could discover a less unsustainable diet for octopus, and also are able to reduce other ecological impacts, farming octopus would still be unethical.

Sources:

https://www.ecowatch.com/octopus-meat-farm-2656110039.html​

https://wp.nyu.edu/ceap/research/the-case-against-octopus-farming-2/

(Image) https://www.daisycrocket.com/octopus-intelligence/