Cuttlefish are remarkably intelligent cephalopods with sophisticated camouflage, delayed gratification abilities, and complex social displays, warranting serious welfare consideration in fishing and research.
Cuttlefish welfare is grounded in strong evidence for cognitive sophistication. Delayed gratification experiments demonstrate self-control and future-oriented cognition. Complex social displays show awareness of multiple social partners simultaneously. These capacities suggest an animal for which chronic stress, pain, and confinement would constitute genuine welfare harm rather than merely physical damage. In fisheries, cuttlefish are caught by trawl and trap and typically die of asphyxiation in air — a prolonged process. Research using cuttlefish in cognition experiments must navigate welfare trade-offs between scientific value and individual animal harm. The precautionary principle supports treating cuttlefish welfare as morally significant.