After five years of campaigning, Compassion in World Farming celebrates major victory as Nueva Pescanova drops plans for this controversial project.

Compassion in World Farming has welcomed a landmark victory after Nueva Pescanova today (23 July 2026) abandoned plans to build the world’s first commercial octopus farm in Gran Canaria, Spain.

The farm, proposed by Spanish seafood company Nueva Pescanova for the Port of Las Palmas, would have confined around one million octopuses a year in barren tanks and caused serious damage to our oceans.

The plans sparked global outcry from animal welfare organisations, scientists, campaigners, and members of the public. Today’s news follows a recent push by Compassion in World Farming to get Las Palmas Port Authority to officially close the planning application for the farm. More than 43,000 emails were sent to the Authority urging them to act.

Earlier today the Port Authority confirmed that Nueva Pescanova had dropped its plans to build the farm in Las Palmas. Compassion in World Farming has campaigned for five years to stop the project. During this time, the NGO has published three major research reports, launched open letters and mobilised NGOs, experts, and celebrities to join the campaign.

Dr Elena Lara, Senior Research and Policy Advisor at Compassion in World Farming, said:

After years of pressure, this is a huge victory for octopuses, our oceans and everyone who joined us in campaigning to stop the world's first octopus farm. 

Octopuses are intelligent, wild animals, not products to be caged in factory farms. The decision to abandon this project sends a powerful message that the future of food must not be built on animal suffering or unsustainable practices. 

Now governments must go further by banning octopus farming and preventing the expansion of carnivorous aquaculture.

Octopuses are intelligent, naturally solitary, wild animals. Farming them in crowded, barren tanks would have caused serious welfare problems including stress, aggression and cannibalism. There is also no scientifically approved, humane method for slaughtering octopuses at scale.

The project also posed major sustainability concerns. A report from Compassion in World Farming in 2025 found that the farm would require around 28,000 tonnes of wild-caught fish for feed in its first year, to produce just 3,000 tonnes of octopus meat. This would have added pressure to already stretched fish populations, threatening marine ecosystems and coastal communities who rely on the fish for food.

Compassion in World Farming will continue campaigning to expose the cruelty and environmental damage associated with octopus farming, and urge decisionmakers in the Canary Islands, Spain, and the EU to ban these cruel farms and prevent the expansion of carnivorous aquaculture.

ENDS

For more information, contact media.team@ciwf.org

Notes to Editors

Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) was founded in 1967 by a British dairy farmer who became horrified at the development of intensive factory farming. Today, Compassion is the leading farm animal welfare organisation dedicated to ending factory farming and achieving humane and sustainable food. With headquarters in the UK, we have offices across Europe, in the US, China, and South Africa. 
CIWF’s report, The Growing Threat of Carnivorous Aquaculture, outlines the potential damage of Nueva Pescanova’s proposed octopus farm to food security and marine ecosystems. It was published in October 2025.

Plans for world’s first octopus farm abandoned following NGO pressure