In Rosas' eyes, that makes Mexico, already a top global producer, a prime place to develop octopus aquaculture. That's a nearly 64% increase compared to the 420,000 tons produced in 2018, data from the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership shows. There is pressure to push forward with commercial farming as global demand grows and the market is expected to reach 688,382 tons by 2025, according to Renub Research. "When you want an animal to be raised for farming, you want a lot of them in a relatively small place, and so you can't really keep them happy together." "They're solitary animals," McAnulty said. As carnivorous creatures, they are known to cannibalize each other, or even eat their own arms, under stress in captivity. In the wild, they eat only live food, said Sarah McAnulty, a U.S.-based cephalopod biologist. The right food and conditions for octopus in captivity are also difficult to crack. Nueva Pescanova, in a statement shared with Reuters, said a food for farmed octopus was being developed based on the UNAM model, which it described as "a circular economy solution." Spanish company Nueva Pescanova, which plans to open the world's first commercial octopus farm next year, wants to test the food, and even send its own fish waste to Sisal to have it made into food, Rosas said. The farm's formula has attracted international attention.
"We are going to make the fishing industry a more efficient industry at the same time that we improve octopus production," Rosas said. Fishermen earn extra money by selling their waste and the farm gets what it needs to feed the octopus. They blend the waste in a machine, creating a paste-like substance that is then formed into pellets.
/124910147-56a2f6ee5f9b58b7d0cfe447.jpg "octopus food")
#Octopus food trial
Researchers last year concluded octopus are sentient beings, capable of experiencing distress and happiness, and that high-welfare farming would be impossible.Īfter much trial and error, Rosas' team found success with a food made from fish waste - like heads - that would otherwise be tossed back into the sea. Scientists and activists, however, have raised ethical questions about breeding octopus. Meanwhile a rise in disposable income and preference for international cuisine are making octopus a popular ingredient in tapas, ceviche and soups. Octopus are notoriously difficult to raise in captivity, but rising ocean temperatures due to climate change and overfishing is some parts of the world are reducing the population in the wild. The farm expanded, now employing older fishermen and their wives, offering a way to earn money back on land when the grueling work at sea becomes too much.
/GettyImages-85781651-580d17fc5f9b58564c59dd55.jpg "octopus food")
With guidance from Rosas, a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the small octopus farm developed a patented food for the highly intelligent cephalopods. This octopus, along with about 250 others, lives in captivity as part of a community project in Sisal, a fishing community in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, that started 15 years ago as a women's collective. It squirms and slithers before slipping from his hand back into the tank, the only home it has ever known. SISAL, Mexico, March 18 (Reuters) - When Mexican biologist Carlos Rosas dips his hand into the water of a large open-topped tank and brings it to the surface, there is a tiny purple baby octopus, no bigger than a tennis ball, in his palm.
0 kommentar(er)
