Aquatic Life Institute (ALI) works across policy, certification, coalition mobilization, and scientific advocacy to prevent octopus farming before it reaches commercial scale as there are profound ethical, ecological, and sustainability concerns. This is a high-leverage intervention due to the tractability of influencing an industry before it exists, protecting potentially hundreds of millions of cephalopods from entering industrial farming systems. Octopus farming is not inevitable, it is a preventable industry that conflicts with sustainability, ethics, and global food security goals.

Upstream Levers

Our efforts to stop octopus farming before it starts focuses four key upstream levers:

• Policy Advocacy: Securing moratoria or legal bans on octopus farming from national governments

• Certification Engagement: Ensuring market incentives are not viable for farmed cephalopods via our work with global seafood certification bodies

• Scientific Legitimacy: Establish octopus sentience and welfare risks as evidence-based, not an ethical opinion, and disseminate that research with policymakers, media, and civil society

• Coalition Activation: Through our Aquatic Animal Alliance (AAA), globally mobilize NGOs to take aligned positions against farming proposals

2025 Outcomes

In the United States, momentum continued for seven states, including Connecticut, Hawai‘i, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Oregon. This flurry of legislation came on the heels of the 2024 successes in California and Washington, with the 2025 reintroduction of a bipartisan federal bill (the OCTOPUS Act) to ban octopus farming nationwide. ALI supported these measures by providing expert resources, coordinating coalition support, and raising public awareness.

2025 also saw breakthroughs beyond the U.S. In October, Chile emerged as a new battleground in the fight against octopus farming and became the first country in the region to introduce a nationwide ban on octopus farming. Representative Marisela Santibáñez’s bill was developed with substantial support from ALI’s experts, providing technical information and draft legal language for the proposal. Both ALI and local partner Fundación Veg worked together under the AAA coalition to drive this effort. The bill’s introduction is groundbreaking: it not only cites the U.S. octopus farming bans in WA and CA as inspiration, but also explicitly aims to preempt the spread of octopus aquaculture in Chile before it begins. Media coverage praised this move as a regional precedent for aquatic animal welfare, noting that Chile’s congressional leadership is strongly behind the bill. 

Mexico drew international attention, as it is home to one of the world’s first pilot octopus farms. In 2023, ALI galvanized 119 organizations under the AAA to demand the closure of this facility. Citing alarming data from our report, including an on-site mortality rate of 52% for octopuses being raised, ALI argued that the project poses elevated mortality rates and potential biosecurity risks. This coordinated pressure on Mexico’s Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), which manages the farm, was covered by industry media and underscored the farm’s unsustainability.  Between October 8 - 15, member organizations of the AAA in Mexico carried out a week-of-action under the slogan #NoALasGranjasDePulpos (No to octopus farms) highlighting risks associated with octopus farming and the urgent need to close the existing farm in Yucatán. With over 190,000 views, 7,300 interactions, and 1,876 social media shares, combined with coverage in national media outlets reaching millions of viewers, the strengthened coalition presence in Mexico, anchored by ALI’s role in science and narrative, laid preparatory groundwork for the introduction of a prospective national bill to ban octopus farming. 

Meanwhile, in Europe, concerns raised by ALI’s research on water contamination, potential disease, and inhumane practices prompted officials to scrutinize whether the initial proposed farm, Nueva Pescanova, should proceed. In Spain, the first formal prohibition proposal for octopus farming was drafted in 2025 by INTERCIDS. The legal rationale and wording, emphasizing cephalopod sentience, an absence of prior regulation, inevitable harm, and a public duty of precaution, closely mirror the arguments ALI advanced in our May 2022 feedback letter to the Canary Islands Government with AAA support. With the Spanish authorities now poised to decide in the coming months, the striking similarity of framing demonstrates clear continuity between ALI’s early scientific warnings and the environmental rationale currently shaping Spain’s legislative debate.

In parallel to these policy gains, ALI continued strengthening the global knowledge and communications foundation of the octopus farming campaign. A detailed technical brief consolidated the latest welfare, ecological, and sustainability evidence against octopus farming, while the October 2025 Mongabay commentary “Octopus farming is a dangerous detour for marine conservation” amplified ALI’s perspective to an international audience. Together, these resources reinforced ALI’s position as the scientific authority on cephalopod welfare and prevention policy. Media coverage has surged, with more than 40 publications worldwide highlighting ALI/AAA’s calls to end octopus farming. In tandem, five leading seafood certification schemes now explicitly prohibit octopus farming through the ALI Benchmark, extending this protection mechanism into global market standards.

What’s Next

Key regions are gearing up to advance octopus farming bans, and ALI/AAA will continue to play a pivotal role in these developments. Below is a rundown of what to watch in 2026:

• United States: Continued traction is anticipated at both state and federal levels. Many of the state proposals are expected to carry over into 2026 for further hearings and votes. Advocates aim to make New Jersey the third state with a ban, after a 2025 committee hearing signaled growing interest. On Capitol Hill, the reintroduced OCTOPUS Act will continue to garner support. Although it didn’t see a vote in 2025, bipartisan backing and public pressure give hope that 2026 could be the year the U.S. enacts a nationwide ban on octopus farming. ALI will continue to provide expert research, guidance, and coordination to strengthen these efforts as they develop.

• Chile: Chile’s historic octopus farming ban bill will move through the next stages of Congress in 2026. The bill is currently under review by the Environment and Natural Resources Committee, where external experts are expected to provide testimony and technical input. Chile’s legislative process can be lengthy; similar animal welfare bills have taken 3 - 5 years to become law. Our focus in 2026 will be on maintaining the bill’s visibility and momentum, building on the optimism that Chile could become a regional trailblazer.

• Mexico: As of 2025, the small research farm in Sisal, Yucatán remains operational, but it does so under a cloud of concern. While no federal ban is on the table yet, 2026 could bring greater regulatory oversight of cephalopod farming practices in Mexico. At minimum, continued public pressure bolstered by international solidarity will keep the Yucatán octopus farm in the spotlight. ALI will provide data and global context, reinforcing that octopus farming is unsustainable and poses catastrophic risks that Mexico’s regulators cannot ignore.

• Spain: Attention remains fixed on the planned octopus farm in Spain’s Canary Islands, a project that has not yet received final approval. In 2026, Spanish authorities are expected to announce findings from the environmental and welfare impact assessment initiated in late 2023. This decision will be pivotal: a rejection of the farm’s permit would mark a huge victory for the global campaign, whereas approval could ignite new protests and legal challenges. ALI will continue to support local Spanish activists and provide expert input, building on the letters and reports submitted in 2024, and plans to engage directly with INTERCIDS, the organization that submitted the national bill proposal, to explore opportunities for collaboration and technical assistance.

• European Union: On the broader EU stage, 2026 may also see policy movement at the European Commission and Parliament. Animal welfare groups have urged the EU to consider a ban or moratorium on octopus farming, given the precedent set by U.S. states and the rising public outcry. ALI will encourage the EU to heed science and global trends by taking a preventive stance in 2026.

• As governments move toward octopus farming prohibitions on the legislative front, ALI’s parallel efforts will also focus on ensuring that industry gatekeepers uphold and operationalize these protections to reinforce why proactive prohibition policies are essential. Building on the progress made through ALI’s Benchmark and corporate engagement, we will continue proving that industrialized octopus farming is a welfare violation, sustainability risk, and reputational liability for companies and certifiers that fail to align their market standards.

Conclusion

ALI is proactively working to prevent the emergence of octopus farming as an industrial practice. Through targeted policy advocacy, certification influence, and international coalition mobilization, ALI is moving cephalopods to the center of political, ethical, and sustainability debates. This is a defining protection case study for 2025, where success could set a new global precedent for how emerging aquaculture industries are governed and how we can protect all aquatic animals, the invisible majority, within the seafood system.