The Horror of Octopus Farms Sparks a Plan to Stop Them
As alarm grows over the prospect of a massive octopus farm in Spain, a California nonprofit has a plan to stop it from ever happening.Â
Los Angeles, May 12th, 2024 — Scientists, environmentalists and animal lovers have expressed horror and alarm over plans by a Spanish company to create a huge octopus farm in the Canary Islands that would reportedly grow and slaughter a million octopuses a year. Octopus farms have already been tried, without success, in Italy, Australia, Mexico, Chile, Japan, and China. However, it’s feared that this Spanish octopus breeding gambit could become commercially viable just as the world is learning about the high intelligence and sensitivity of these sea creatures.
So, a plan is underway right now to ban octopus farming before it even gets started. The nonprofit Social Compassion in Legislation (SCIL) has proposed legislation to ban octopus farming in the all important state of California. The OCTO Act (Opposing Cruelty to Octopus Act) is the new bill to ban octopus farming in California (AB 3162).
California is currently the world’s 5th largest economy and on track to becoming the 4th largest economy. This bill would ban octopus farming within this coastal state and also make it illegal for farmed octopus products to be sold in California, thereby hurting the commercial viability of octopus farming in Spain or anywhere else. If the bill becomes law in California, it increases the chances that other states will follow suit with their own bans. Washington State kicked off this movement with octopus farming now illegal in that state.
SCIL’s founder Judie Mancuso and SCIL’s Director of Legislative Affairs Nick Sackett  revealed the details of their octopus ban bill to UnchainedTVs Jane Velez-Mitchell:
How You Can Help Stop Octopus Farming
California citizens and organizations can help to get this bill passed by contacting their representatives with one click via the SCIL website. Calls, emails and support letters are crucial to SCIL’s life-saving bills becoming law, as Sackett explains:
“We’ve gotten both Republican and Democratic votes on the bill thus far, but we need continued support from everybody out there to make sure that their representatives hear from them.” – Nick Sackett, SCIL
“Once animal agriculture gets started, to undo it, to unwind the clock, is next to impossible. But if we can prevent it from ever getting started, that’s real progress.” — Judie Mancuso, SCIL’s founder
Judie Mancuso is the founder, CEO, and president of Social Compassion in Legislation.
Over the years, SCIL has sponsored 70 bills with 25 landmark pieces of legislation for animals signed into law. This effective organization has helped to eliminate the sale of animal-tested cosmetics, crack down on puppy mills, allow dogs access to restaurant patios, make it illegal to leave dogs unattended in hot cars and so much more.
Since SCIL was founded in 2007, Mancuso has been recognized for her fierce advocacy and tireless efforts to protect animals. In 2019, she was named one of the most influential people in Orange County. This is what she said about the OCTO Act (Opposing Cruelty to Octopus Act), the new bill to ban octopus farming in California (AB 3162).
“Factory farming is cruel and there is enough of it already. There are attempts right now, pilot programs in other countries, to begin factory farming octopus. And so, proactively — because we know that once this gets established, they’ll be coming to California to start this cruel factory farming — this bill will prohibit these farms in California.”
And, Mancuso revealed how she’s managed to sponsor 70 pieces of legislation over the years:
“The secret is hard work, but it’s also longevity and getting a reputation at the capital that we are a group to trust and work with…It’s integrity, keeping your word. It’s also having a presence that when these legislators work with you, they know that you have a lot of support behind you.”
More Bans Are Needed
Nick Sackett is SCIL’s Sacramento-based Director of Legislative Affairs. He has been instrumental in SCIL’s continued success by collaborating with lawmakers to pass groundbreaking legislation. A graduate of Tulane Law School, he worked in corporate law for more than a decade. Then, in 2017, Sackett decided to follow his passion for helping animals and joined the SCIL team. With a background covering the international trade of endangered species of wild flora and fauna, he heads SCIL’s advocacy ground game in the halls of the capitol, interfacing with legislators, staff, committees, and supporters to help save animals. This is what he said about the new bill:
“Unfortunately, demand for octopus is rising around the world, and so this company in Spain saw that as an opportunity to make money if they could figure out how to farm them…Our hope is that they never figure it out and that these animals never have to suffer at the hands of factory farming, but in the event that they do, we’re here to pass a bill in California that prevents it.”
On February 27th of 2024, the Washington State Senate passed a bill to ban Octopus farming with 29 votes for and 20 against. The State’s House of Representatives had already passed it on February 7th. Governor Jay Inslee has now signed it into law, officially banning octopus farming in Washington. Sackett explains which other states may follow suit:
“As California goes, so goes the nation. To be fair, we also have to give credit to our neighbors to the north in Washington who actually just passed this same exact policy. And so, we’re hoping to get it in California. We imagine that Oregon will be next, and possibly other coastal States after that.”
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