World’s first octopus farm stirs ethical debate
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Re: World’s first octopus farm stirs ethical debate
#2On a very lateral note, pulpo a la gallega is made with boiled, not seared, octopus
Re: World’s first octopus farm stirs ethical debate
#3On a very lateral note, pulpo a la gallega is made with boiled, not seared, octopus
I shall instruct my octopodal mates to avoid hot baths and go for the incineration option instead.
This is a tricky one. Where do you draw the line as an omnivore?
Re: World’s first octopus farm stirs ethical debate
#4> "For now aquaculture is the only available option."
Wrong.
I've stopped eating octopus. Of course, we can't stop eating every animal, even many that obviously feel distress and emotions, but we really need to draw a line on reducing and making sure that we raise or naturally hunt animals in a humane as possible way. Octopus is one I've taken a line on. Others still weigh on me.
"Aquaculture" is being billed as the solution to ocean food and even as "green" and "sustainable", but it's going to be just like or worse than the Green Revolution, which continues to strip land of diversity and nutrients.
Humans are hell bent on destroying this planet. Why do humans have a complete lack of an ability to say "stop, we're not going to do this anymore". Instead, we somehow view continuous growth and consumption as the only available option. It makes no sense.
Re: World’s first octopus farm stirs ethical debate
#5> Last year, researchers at the London School of Economics concluded from a review of 300 scientific studies that octopus were sentient beings capable of experiencing distress and happiness, and that high-welfare farming would be impossible.
I don't understand how someone can decide to ignore that in an effort to make money. I fear that if we don't more quickly move the Overton window on the suffering of sentient creatures, we may suddenly find ourselves with synthetic sentient life devoid of protection under the law.
Re: World’s first octopus farm stirs ethical debate
#6> Last year, researchers at the London School of Economics concluded from a review of 300 scientific studies that octopus were sentient beings capable of experiencing distress and happiness, and that high-welfare farming would be impossible. I don't understand how someone can decide to ignore that in an effort to make money. I fear that if we don't more quickly move the Overton window on the suffering of sentient cre…
Is it not clear that cows experience distress? And we farm and eat those.
Or is this conclusion that octopuses experience distress and other animals are p-zombies which only react in a way that looks like distress but might be emotionally neutral inside?
Re: World’s first octopus farm stirs ethical debate
#7I've had several people in my life tell me after more intense studies of octopi they refuse to eat them.
While I've seen a couple of documentaries on the subject, I won't profess to know as much, but the essential argument has been that they're extremely intelligent, emotional animals. It's akin to eating a dog or cat (which might be acceptable in some parts of the world, but pretty shunned in the west).
It's convincing enough for me, I also stopped eating octopus.
A soft start if you want to research, Netflix currently has "My Octopus Teacher" streaming.
Re: World’s first octopus farm stirs ethical debate
#8> Last year, researchers at the London School of Economics concluded from a review of 300 scientific studies that octopus were sentient beings capable of experiencing distress and happiness, and that high-welfare farming would be impossible. I don't understand how someone can decide to ignore that in an effort to make money. I fear that if we don't more quickly move the Overton window on the suffering of sentient cre…
the same would apply to pretty much all animals no? and dare I say plants too?
Re: World’s first octopus farm stirs ethical debate
#9> "For now aquaculture is the only available option." Wrong. I've stopped eating octopus. Of course, we can't stop eating every animal, even many that obviously feel distress and emotions, but we really need to draw a line on reducing and making sure that we raise or naturally hunt animals in a humane as possible way. Octopus is one I've taken a line on. Others still weigh on me. "Aquaculture" is being billed as the…
I commend you for your decision.
I want to add that framing my ideas about animal suffering in an elastic way makes it easier for me to make incremental changes. An animal is either alive or dead. Maybe eating vegetarian once a week will save a life down the line.
I urge everyone to resist the all-or-nothing approach, especially on such an important aspect of our ethical choices. No one's perfect, not even the vegan straight edge kids on Instagram who sneak a chicken nugget when no one's looking.
Re: World’s first octopus farm stirs ethical debate
#10> "For now aquaculture is the only available option." Wrong. I've stopped eating octopus. Of course, we can't stop eating every animal, even many that obviously feel distress and emotions, but we really need to draw a line on reducing and making sure that we raise or naturally hunt animals in a humane as possible way. Octopus is one I've taken a line on. Others still weigh on me. "Aquaculture" is being billed as the…
> Of course, we can't stop eating every animal
Why? There are plenty of people who do.