Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bipartisan bill Friday making it a crime to farm octopuses for human consumption in California.
The new law makes it illegal to raise and breed octopuses in state waters or in aquaculture tanks based on land within the state. It also prevents business owners and operators from knowingly participating in the sale of an octopus — regardless of its provenance — that has been raised to be eaten by people.
The text of the law recognizes that octopuses are “highly intelligent, curious, problem-solving animals” that are conscious, sentient and experience “pain, stress, and fear, as well as pleasure, equanimity, and social bonds.” It goes on to note that in research studies, these eight-legged marine invertebrates have demonstrated long-term memory as well as the ability to recognize individual people.