Laura Lee Cascada: The Only US Octopus Farm Has Been Temporarily Shut Down

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But what the tour guide told us was that eventually as they grew they now have their own octopus catchers They called them the octopus whisperers and they said that these people know exactly where the octopuses are going to be and when so they know how to go get them and bring them back to the facility Laura Lee Cascada In October of last year Laura Lee Cascada published an investigation into the Kanaloa Octopus Farm on the Big Island in Hawaii The Kanaloa Octopus Farm was capturing wild Hawaiian Day octopuses and keeping them in these tiny isolated tanks while also conducting breeding experiments under the guise of conservation What made it even more bizarre was that they were also a tourist attraction People could pay to come to the octopus farm and see and touch and pet the octopuses in these tiny tanks So it was like an octopus petting zoo breeding farm What they were really doing was trying to figure out how to breed these octopuses which is really difficult to do in captivity But it s the first step to US octopus factory farming In January they received a cease and desist letter because they did not have the required permits for the above So for the moment their octopus program is temporarily shut down We need to keep it shut down and we need to ban octopus farming in this country before it really starts The world s first octopus factory farm is set to open in the Canary Islands this year adding to the very long list of cruel and abusive industries across the planet Let s not let that happen here I asked Laura to talk about her investigation and what all this really means for octopuses and for the future of farming them for food Links Laura Lee Cascada http www lauraleecascada com Every Animal Project https www everyanimalproject com 2022 10 09 octopus-farming Articles on Kanaloa Octopus Farm https www hawaiinewsnow com 2023 02 08 state-serves-kona-octopus-farm-with-cease-and-desist-order-lack-permits https bigislandnow com 2023 02 04 kanaloa-octopus-farm-in-west-hawai CA BBi-receives-cease-and-desist-letter-from-state https www latimes com california story 2023-02-15 hawaii-says-octopus-farm-operated-without-proper-permitsClick here to visit this podcast episode