Fending Off Octopus and Marine Fish Factory Farms

A pair of bipartisan bills currently before Congress would protect octopuses, finfish, and marine ecosystems from the animal welfare and environmental ills of marine factory farms in the United States. In April, Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) reintroduced the Keep Finfish Free Act to prohibit federal agencies from issuing permits for commercial finfish farming in federal marine waters. In June, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) reintroduced the Opposing the Cultivation and Trade of Octopus Produced through Unethical Strategies (OCTOPUS) Act, which would prohibit domestic octopus aquaculture operations and forbid imports of commercially farmed octopus or octopus products. If passed, this bill would prevent the nascent commercial octopus farming industry (see AWI Quarterly, summer 2025) from taking hold in the United States and send a strong signal to overseas operators seeking to profit from octopus farming that octopuses belong in the ocean, not on inherently inhumane factory farms. Take action at awionline.org/octopus.

Program Terms: Farmed Animals, Marine Wildlife

AWI Quarterly Terms: Government/Legal, Quick Read