The world’s first octopus factory farm is on the verge of being built in Gran Canaria, Spain, and Manchester’s Blush Design has joined the fight to stop it.
The farm is the brainchild of Spanish seafood manufacturer Nueva Pescanova, which is reportedly investing $63 million into the high-intensity octopus farmwhich would produce around 3,000 tonnes of octopus meat per year – or around 300,000 slaughtered octopus, acoording to Animal Survival International.
Campaign group Eurogroup for Animals added that this would further equate to a total of around one million octopus suffering and/or dying annually. It said: “If the world’s first factory farm for octopuses is allowed to go ahead, it would be a travesty for these innocent creatures and a huge step in the wrong direction towards more sustainable and nature-friendly food and farming systems.”
Confined, injured, and unable to be themselves. —
This is the fate that awaits countless #octopuses if the world’s first #octopus factory farm ever opens! Show @Food_EU this is NOT what Europe’s citizens want by tagging them below ⬇️#NoAnimalLeftBehind #StopOctopusFarming pic.twitter.com/N2IG4kSfqh
— Eurogroup For Animals (@Act4AnimalsEU) June 2, 2023
Eurogroup for Animals has launched a campaign to force the EU to step in, and hopes to see all animals, including octopus, considered in the European Commission’s ongoing revision to the animal welfare legislation.
Manchester’s Blush was on hand to assist with design and visual assets for the campaign. Design director Rob Whyte said: “We were asked to create campaign materials to highlight the reasons why octopus farming should be stopped. We designed a hard hitting report in both English and Spanish languages which uncovered the horrific reality of octopus farming. To support the campaign further we developed social media graphics featuring key statistics, roller banners, placards and stickers in multiple designs.”
Some key figures in politics and the animal welfare movement have already expressed enthusiasm for the campaign. Writer, researcher and broadcaster Melanie Challenger has backed the message, while MEP Tilly Metz has cited banning octopus farming as one of her key priorities for the ongoing animal welfare legislation.
Australian moral philosopher, professor of bioethics and legendary figure in the animal liberation movement, Peter Singer, has also put his weight behind the campaign.
Blush is no stranger to rolling its sleeves up for animal causes – it recently picked up silver at the Global Agency Awards 2023 for Best Not-for-Profit Campaign, for its work on Eurogroup for Animals’ anti-fur campaign.
The group is also asking the public to support its octopus fight, by tweeting their support to #StopOctopusFarming and signing the petition.
