Today, on World Octopus Day (8 October), we released new research exposing that governments around the world have poured millions of public funds into developing octopus farming, and the vast majority was spent by Spain.

Our research estimates that a total of at least €13.3 million in public funds has been spent by governments worldwide on research to develop octopus farming and that the Spanish Government has spent at least €9.7 million developing this cruel and unsustainable practice.

Millions of EU funds supporting octopus farming

It further shows that Spain has spent an estimated €3.6 million of that amount using EU funds either in direct financing or as part of loans to support private companies involved. Furthermore, Italy has spent more than a quarter of a million euros on octopus farming projects.

Funding to support the development of octopus farming came predominantly from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, but also from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and NextGeneration EU, the Covid-19 economic recovery programme. There is also evidence of undisclosed EU and government funding, although exact details of that funding are unavailable.

Outside the EU, Chile has spent an estimated €2.4 million, New Zealand more than half a million euros, and Australia €324k, while Mexico received €89k from the United Nations development programme for octopus farm development.

However, the research revealed that this could be the tip of the iceberg as information about public funding of projects is often not freely available, indicating that the true amounts could be much higher as well as a need for greater transparency in public spending so that governments can be held accountable.

A poll we commissioned this year together with Eurogroup for Animals showed that almost 8 out of 10 (79%) people polled in nine EU countries think that when public money is used to fund aquatic animal farming, the money should only support farms that are sustainable. In Spain, an overwhelming 83% of people agree.

In response, more than 90 NGOs and experts – including Peter Singer, Eurogroup for Animals, Ocean Born Foundation, World Animal Protection and Jennifer Jacquet – have today joined us in writing to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urging him to stop his government’s funding of octopus farming and to take steps to legislate to ban the practice.

Hollywood actor adds voice to campaign

Acclaimed Hollywood actor and host of The Traitors (US), Alan Cumming, has added his voice to the campaign to stop government funding of octopus farming. He said: “It’s shocking that governments around the world are spending public funds on research to develop something as cruel and environmentally damaging as octopus farming. This must be stopped.”

Octopuses are highly intelligent and naturally solitary wild animals that are unsuited to crowded factory farm conditions. This confinement could lead to severe stress, aggression and even cannibalism. It’s also unsustainable as they would need to be fed wild-caught fishes in captivity – a practice that would contribute to overfishing and food insecurities in already vulnerable communities around the world.

On Saturday, we joined eight environmental and animal protection NGOs, including Eurogroup for Animals, and Greenpeace, to gather in front of the Spanish Congress to highlight the reasons why the world’s first octopus farm planned in Gran Canaria, must be stopped. Our EU Senior Science and Policy Advisor, Dr Elena Lara, spoke at the event.

Dr Lara, who is a marine biologist, said: “This World Octopus Day, we urge the Spanish Government along with other governments worldwide to do the right thing and stop funding octopus farming. People are likely to be outraged that their hard-earned taxes are being spent on confining these fascinating and intelligent creatures in factory farms, a practice which also damages the environment.

“Our research also reveals a lack of transparency making it difficult to establish how much public money has been poured into this cruel practice. Governments should be more open and accountable. Instead of funding damaging activities they should end factory farming and only fund sustainable practices that benefit animals, people and our planet.”

We have been raising global awareness of the threat of octopus farming since 2021 when we published our report, Octopus Farming: A Recipe for Disaster, highlighting why these sentient wild animals are totally unsuitable for farming. Most recently, we joined forces with Eurogroup for Animals to publish Exposing the environmental risks of octopus farming, which outlines the strong animal welfare and environmental concerns over the proposed Gran Canaria farm, where Spanish seafood company Nueva Pescanova plans to rear approximately one million octopuses every year for food.

Bans on octopus farming have already been introduced in Washington and California states, and a bipartisan bill has been introduced to US Congress which could prohibit commercial octopus farming throughout the entire country.

Vinciane Patelou, Head of EU at Compassion in World Farming, said: “Indirectly, the European Union is pouring taxpayers money into researching octopus farming, a cruel and unsustainable practice that should simply be banned, not financed. The fact that this financial support came from different EU funding programmes shows the need to a holistic approach to completely ban octopus farming across the EU.”

Urge the Spanish government and the EU to stop funding octopus farming.