Proposals to farm octopuses commercially raise serious welfare concerns, as these highly intelligent animals have complex behavioral needs entirely incompatible with intensive aquaculture.
Octopuses experience pain and stress and display remarkable cognitive sophistication including tool use, individual personality, and spatial learning. Farming them intensively would require housing solitary animals in confined conditions unsuitable for their biology, with no feasible enrichment that meets their needs. The feed requirements would also drive fishing pressure on other animals. The consensus among welfare scientists is that octopus farming should not proceed.