an octopus in water sitting on some coral looking directly at the camera.

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The fight to prevent the farming of octopuses is not over.

After five years of campaigning, we achieved a major victory in July 2026, when Nueva Pescanova announced that it was abandoning its plans to build the world’s first octopus farm in the Canary Islands.

But the threat remains. There are reports of possible octopus farming projects in Spain, Japan, and Mexico. If these projects go ahead, they could put animal welfare, food security, and our oceans at risk.

Octopuses are very clever, sensitive and solitary animals. Confining them in tanks to farm them would be cruel and lead to endless animal suffering. It is impossible to farm them whilst protecting their welfare. Also, no humane slaughter methods exist for octopuses.

Beyond these serious welfare concerns, the environmental consequences are equally severe. Farming octopuses and other carnivorous species like tuna requires large amounts of wild fish. This can strip our oceans of species that are essential to healthy marine ecosystems and provide food and livelihoods for coastal communities.

This is why we are calling on world leaders to keep their commitments to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 by stopping the expansion of carnivorous aquaculture and block new farms for new carnivorous species such as tuna and octopus.

Please sign our petition today.

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Governments must act now

Governments have pledged to halt biodiversity loss by 2030, but current policies fail to address the growing harm caused by the expansion of carnivorous aquaculture. 

By acting now, governments can protect marine biodiversity, keep aquatic animals in the wild and prevent further exploitation of our oceans. 

We call on governments to: 

Stop overfishing for feed by limiting wild fish use, protecting marine food webs and improving supply chain transparency. 
Block new farms for new carnivorous species such as tuna and octopus, which depend on other fish for feed.
End harmful subsidies and redirect funding towards more sustainable and regenerative options, including bivalves such as mussels or oysters and seaweed farming.

CIWF

STOP OCTOPUS FARMING – KEEP THEM WILD

Your voice can help stop octopus farming and prevent the expansion of carnivorous aquaculture.

Sign the petition and call on world leaders to honour their commitment to halt biodiversity loss and stop octopus farming.

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To world leaders,

In 2022, over 190 governments committed under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, including the development and implementation of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).

Yet current policies and existing NBSAPs do not sufficiently address the growing pressure that carnivorous aquaculture — such as tuna ranching and proposed octopus farming — places on wild fish populations, particularly forage fish, food webs, and marine ecosystems.

We call on world leaders to strengthen and implement their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, in line with the commitments taken with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, to ensure that aquaculture development supports, rather than undermines, biodiversity objectives.

We call on policymakers to:

Ensure that aquaculture development does not drive overfishing or ecosystem degradation, or the depletion of key forage species by:
- Establishing ecosystem-informed limits on the use of wild fish inputs – including forage fish, fishmeal and fish oil used in feed,
- Prioritizing marine food web integrity and safeguarding coastal community food security and livelihoods,
- Strengthening monitoring, reporting, traceability, and transparency of aquaculture supply chains.

(CBD Target 5 and 9 – sustainable use and management of wild species)

Apply a precautionary principle to the expansion of carnivorous aquaculture by:
- Applying the precautionary principle to the development of aquaculture involving high‑trophic species such as tuna and octopus.
- Refraining from issuing new permits for the farming of high-trophic, feed-dependent species (including tuna and octopus) where significant biodiversity risks remain, and avoiding expansion that could lock in long term ecological impacts.

(CBD Targets 10 & 1 – sustainable aquaculture and reducing biodiversity loss)

Reform subsidies and redirect public finance with biodiversity objectives by:
- Identifying and reforming subsidies and financial incentives that drive unsustainable aquaculture expansion
- Redirecting public finance toward low-impact, restorative, and non‑fed aquaculture systems (e.g. bivalves, seaweed).

(CBD Target 18 – reform harmful subsidies)

Strengthen policy coherence between biodiversity and international trade frameworks by:
- Assessing, in line with the precautionary principle, the inclusion of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) under CITES Appendix II
- Ensuring that international trade in aquatic species does not undermine biodiversity objectives or place additional pressure on wild populations
- Strengthening coherence between CBD commitments, NBSAP implementation, and international trade frameworks, including CITES.

(CBD Targets 5 & 9 – sustainable use and trade of wild species)

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