Controversy Surrounds Kanaloa Octopus Farm in Hawaii for Treatment of Wild-Caught Day Octopuses
The Kanaloa Octopus Farm in Hawaii was recently issued a cease-and-desist letter by Hawaii's Division of Aquatic Resources for possessing and breeding regulated species of aquatic life without the required permits.
The farm offers visitors the opportunity to touch a wild-caught day octopus for $60, which is kept in separate, opaque tanks until they die.
The farm denies working with day octopuses that are under one pound, but facility manager Dan Jackson claimed they are breeding octopuses successfully from juvenile sizes of less than one gram, which contradicts the farm's claims.
The Kanaloa Octopus Farm has come under criticism from animal rights activists and octopus researchers for its treatment of the day octopus, which is confined for life to entertain humans.
The Kanaloa Octopus Farm's goal is to breed day octopuses, which are not endangered, so that wildlife officials across the globe can restock them if populations decrease.
Commercial octopus farms have yet to close the life cycle of potentially commercially productive captive octopuses, as they have not been able to keep small octopuses living beyond 13 days.
The farm's owner, Jacob Conroy, will have to apply for a "special activities" permit to continue operating with live octopuses, but there is no guarantee the application for the permit will be approved.
The facility claims to be a research center and denies raising octopuses for food, but the farm charges visitors to interact with the animals, prompting critics to view it as a petting zoo that confines wild-caught animals for life to entertain humans.
Critics view the farm as a petting zoo that confines wild-caught animals for life to entertain humans, and the cease-and-desist order has raised questions about the ethics of octopus farming and the regulation of aquatic life.
Palm Leaf
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