PETITION TARGET: Washington Senate Rules Committee
UPDATE (3/3/2023): This bill has passed onto the House for a vote, according to news reports. We’ll keep watching this important legislation!
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Highly intelligent and curious octopuses could receive protection from cruel and inhumane commercial octopus farming in Washington State if legislators pass newly introduced, common-sense legislation.
House Bill 1153, or the Prohibit Octopus Farming Act, would make it illegal for any person or company to raise octopuses in the state for human consumption.
It’s critical that this life-saving legislation be fully supported and quickly passed.
Scientists have known for decades that octopuses are emotionally complex beings who can play and interact with humans, solve puzzles, and have even stolen traps from the fishing industry. Octopuses’ sentience also was most recently recognized by the London School of Economics and Political Science, whose report also noted it is impossible to “humanely” farm them.
Octopuses do not have skeletons and also can cannibalize each other if placed in the same tank or space — likely leaving them extremely vulnerable to injury and death in a commercial setting, according to the report. Farming octopuses also poses risks to human health, as marine animals raised in captivity for food are more likely to contract diseases, according to other scientific reports.
Washington is a state rightfully proud of its conservation and environmental protection efforts. It’s time for Washington’s legislators to continue building that honorable and compassionate legacy by permanently prohibiting any commercial octopus farming in the state.
The bill is currently in the Washington Senate Rules Committee, having passed the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee with a 9-2 vote.
Sign our petition urging legislators to whole-heartedly support and quickly pass legislation prohibiting the commercial farming of octopuses in Washington.
