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ARTICLE · 22 NOVEMBER 2024

Washington State Enacts World's First Legislation To Ban Octopus Farming

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Madison Gutzman, 2026 J.D. Candidate, Texas A&M University School of Law

United StatesEnvironment
Michelle C. Pardo
Michelle C. Pardo
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By guest blogger:

Madison Gutzman, 2026 J.D. Candidate, Texas A&M University School of Law

Washington House Bill 1153, which prohibits the farming of octopuses in Washington State, was signed into law on March 13th, 2024. Washington leads the charge in legislation of this kind, but California and Hawaii are not far behind. Representative Strom Peterson sponsored the bill to keep octopus farms from hurting the environment and causing the suffering of octopuses. Rep. Peterson argues it is well past time to prohibit octopus farming. However, no octopus farms currently exist in the world. So, what sparked this surge in legislation?

Construction of the world's first octopus farm has been proposed in Gran Canaria, Spain. Controversy sparked after an animal rights group released confidential plans behind the farm's operation. The seafood company behind the farm had announced scientific advancements in the breeding and captivity of octopuses that would lead to

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