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Plans for the world’s first commercial octopus farm have been scrapped after years of opposition from NGOs, scientists, and the public.
The scientific consensus suggests octopuses are sentient, intelligent, and complex animals, and they are now recognized as such by law in the UK.
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Spanish company Nueva Pescanova resubmitted its controversial application to open the first commercial octopus farm at the Port of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, last year. However, the Port Authority has confirmed that the plans have been dropped.
Reports of the “world’s first octopus farm” circulated in the early 2020s, and Nueva Pescanova unveiled its first proposal in 2021. According to blueprints leaked to the BBC, Nueva Pescanova planned to build a two-storey farm and produce 3,000 tonnes of octopus meat per year, the equivalent of around one million animals.
The proposal was met with widespread criticism from animal rights advocates, conservationists, and the scientific community, and was ultimately rejected by the Port Authority. Nueva Pescanova resubmitted an application for the octopus farm in 2025, but has reportedly now scrapped its plans entirely.
Compassion in World Farming (CiWF) celebrated the news as a “major victory,” but said that it will “keep fighting” against the growing threat of octopus farming. CiWF’s Keep Them Wild campaign, which calls on policymakers to ban octopus farming and halt the spread of carnivorous aquaculture worldwide, will remain active.
‘This is a huge victory for octopuses’
CiWF noted that the decision to scrap the farm came after “global outcry from animal welfare organisations, scientists, campaigners and members of the public.” Over 43,000 emails were sent to the Port Authority urging them to close the application.
Elena Lara, senior research and policy advisor at CiWF, said, “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.”
She added, “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 or unsustainable practices. Now governments must go further by banning octopus farming and preventing the expansion of carnivorous aquaculture.”
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Octopus farming bans and the growing threat of carnivorous aquaculture
CiWF has now published three reports on octopus farming, including “The Growing Threat of Carnivorous Aquaculture” last year, which included undercover footage of the slaughter method proposed by Nueva Pescanova. It showed wild-caught octopuses submerged in ice water and experiencing drawn-out and painful deaths.
Earlier this year, Mexico introduced a bill to ban octopus farming nationwide. The new bill cited the extremely high mortality rates and cannibalism that have been documented at an octopus research project in Sisal, Yucatán, over the last 12 years.
Chile introduced its own draft legislation to ban octopus farming in 2025, while in the US, the states of California and Washington have already banned the practices. Similar bans and legislative action are expected in New York, Hawaii, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
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