Commercial octopus farming is emerging, raising novel welfare questions about keeping a highly intelligent solitary predator at commercial density for food production.
Octopus farming raises profound welfare concerns that are not yet scientifically resolved. Octopuses are among the most cognitively sophisticated invertebrates — they use tools, solve problems, and show individual personalities. They are cannibalistic when crowded, meaning commercial density housing creates inescapable welfare harm. They are difficult to euthanize humanely. Their intelligence and problem-solving capacity may create welfare needs far beyond what commercial systems could meet.