At a humming factory in the Spanish town of O Carballino, workers sling dozens of limp octopuses into a metal cauldron, wincing as strings of slime splatter their aprons. Nearby, others slice tentacles and pack them into vacuum-sealed bags destined for restaurants and retailers across Europe, Asia and the United States — part of a growing global appetite for an animal that’s become increasingly scarce in its native waters.

Though O Carballino proudly calls itself Spain’s octopus capital — complete with a towering bronze octopus statue, streets lined with the pulperias that offer them up to diners and an annual octopus festival that draws tens of thousands — the century-old factory hasn't sourced a single animal from local waters in 10 years.

“Here in Galicia, octopus has become really, really variable and scarce,” said Carlos Arcos, export manager of Frigorificos Arcos SL. “If you’re industrializing a process like we do, you need to guarantee your customers regularity of supply.”

Today, 100% of the company’s octopus comes from Mauritania and Morocco.

While octopus numbers fluctuate naturally from year to year, scientists and fishers say Spain’s long-term trend is downward — and surging international demand is only tightening the squeeze.

This summer, that pressure reached a breaking point. Spain’s octopus fishery closed for three months — an unusually long pause meant to give it time to recover.

Octopus populations in Galicia also depend heavily on nutrient-rich upwelling – deep ocean water rising to the surface and bringing food for octopuses – said Ángel González, a research professor at the Spanish National Research Council.

While upwelling naturally fluctuates, climate change is altering wind patterns, ocean stratification and nutrient delivery, making those cycles less predictable and, in some years, less productive.

In response to growing demand and shrinking wild stocks, some companies in Spain are attempting to farm octopus in captivity — a move they say could ease pressure on the oceans.

Grupo Profand is developing a research hatchery in Galicia focused on overcoming the biological challenges of breeding octopus. Meanwhile, seafood giant Nueva Pescanova is pursuing a full-scale industrial farm that would raise up to a million octopuses a year for slaughter.

Grupo Profand did not respond to an interview request. A spokesperson for Nueva Pescanova declined to comment.

Animal welfare groups have condemned the proposed project as inhumane, citing plans to kill octopuses by submerging them in ice slurry and to confine the often-cannibalistic animals at high densities. They also warn it would pollute nearby waters with discharged waste, worsen overfishing of wild fish used for feed and inflict suffering on one of the ocean’s most complex creatures.

Widespread concerns have already prompted action in the United States. Washington became the first state to ban octopus farming in 2024, followed by California, which also outlawed the sale of farmed octopus. Lawmakers in more than half a dozen other states have proposed similar bans, and a bipartisan federal bill to prohibit both farming and imports of farmed octopus is under consideration in Congress.

Though no commercial farms currently operate in the U.S., these preemptive measures reflect mounting unease over projects moving ahead in Europe, Asia and parts of Central and South America — unease fueled in part by the 2020 Oscar-winning documentary “My Octopus Teacher,” which showcased the animals' intelligence and emotional complexity to millions on Netflix.

AP Video by María Gestoso and Annika Hammerschlag

Produced by Julián Trejo Bax

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