Plans to farm octopuses commercially have generated intense welfare debate given their exceptional intelligence and welfare research findings.
Octopuses present perhaps the most difficult welfare challenge in aquaculture planning. They are among the most intelligent invertebrates known to science, capable of sophisticated learning, play behavior, and individual recognition. Farming them in dense populations directly conflicts with their solitary, territorial nature and is predicted to generate high levels of stress, injury, and cannibalism. The welfare case against octopus farming is unusually strong given existing evidence, and many scientists have called for a moratorium until adequate welfare standards can be developed.