First proposed Octopus farm to be protested in Toronto

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The threat of the world’s first commercial Octopus farm in the Canary Islands in 2023 will be globally protested on World Octopus Day on Saturday, including in Toronto at the Spanish Consulate General at 2 Bloor St. E.

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“We just launched this campaign a half a year ago,” said Anita Krajnc, the Toronto-based executive director of Plant Based Treaty.

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“This Spanish company called (Nueva) Pescanova is proposing to build a farm on the Canary Islands, which is tourist area. So they’re going to impregnate these octopuses, have them in small tanks in the dark. It’s going to be horrific because Ocotopuses have the intelligence of a dog.”

“Plant Based Treaty is calling for solutions to the climate crisis and the ocean crisis and this is going in the opposite direction,” Krajnc added.

More than 4,500 Plant Based Treaty supporters have also written to Canary Islands officials asking them to block Nueva Pescanova’s plans and more than 55,000 supporters have signed a petition calling on the Governments of Spain and Gran Canaria to intervene.

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“This is an expansion of animal agriculture and exploiting these incredibly intelligent creatures in a new way,” said Krajnc.

“So we’re trying to shift the culture in the same way (the 2013 documentary) Blackfish did for whales (in captivity). It’s not worth a meal eating an animal that has the intelligence of a dog. Do people know octopuses have three hearts? With one heart you can save an octopus.”

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Researchers estimate about 50,000 tons of octopus are caught each year due to rising customer demand.

According to Plant Based Treaty, Nueva Pescanova has yet to explain how the farm-raised octopuses will be raised or killed. But wild-caught octopuses are typically killed by clubbing their heads, cutting into their brains without anesthetic, asphyxiation in a net, or chilling in ice.