Natural History Wanderings

ScienceAlert reports:

Octopus is a popular ingredient in many cuisines, with some 420,000 metric tons 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.

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 organized 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 feces.

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.

Read full article at Octopus Farming Is Deeply Disturbing. A Professor Explains Why. : ScienceAlert