California governor signs bill to ban octopus farming

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bipartisan bill Friday making it a crime to farm octopuses for human consumption in California.

The new law makes it illegal to raise and breed octopuses in state waters or in aquaculture tanks based on land within the state. It also prevents business owners and operators from knowingly participating in the sale of an octopus — regardless of its provenance — that has been raised to be eaten by people.

The text of the law recognizes that octopuses are “highly intelligent, curious, problem-solving animals” that are conscious, sentient and experience “pain, stress, and fear, as well as pleasure, equanimity, and social bonds.” It goes on to note that in research studies, these eight-legged marine invertebrates have demonstrated long-term memory as well as the ability to recognize individual people.

In one experiment, eight giant Pacific octopuses were introduced to two people over a two-week period at the Seattle Aquarium. One of them always approached with food in hand, which they gave to the octopuses. The other carried a bristly stick, with which they used to scratch the cephalopods’ sensitive skin.

At the end of two weeks, the octopuses’ responses to the two people were significantly different. When the stick-carrier approached, the animals would move away and line up their water jets toward the offender so they could make a quick get-away if necessary. But when feeder came calling, they ambled up to the side of the tank and turned their jets away.

Proponents of the new law said it positions California as a leader in humane aquaculture. They point to a growing body of research that shows raising octopuses for food is cruel, inefficient and detrimental to the environment.

California is now the second state — after Washington — to prohibit octopus farming. Similar legislation has also been introduced in the U.S. Senate and in Hawaii.

“We know that what happens in California has an impact on what happens federally,” Jennifer Jacquet, a professor of environmental science and policy at the University of Miami, said when the bill cleared the legislature. “Americans want to keep octopuses wild.”