Ban cephalopod farming and imports

AI summary

Petitioners ask Canada to ban imported farmed cephalopods and prohibit cephalopod farming. The government responds that CFIA enforces import controls, has no federally licensed cephalopod farms, and aquatic‑disease rules do not currently cover cephalopods.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA Whereas: Companies around the world have begun developing industrial-scale commercial cephalopod farms, in which tens of thousands of octopus or squid would be bred, raised and slaughtered for human consumption; Octopus are highly intelligent, inquisitive and complex beings who, despite their different physiology, feel and respond to pain in a similar way to mammals; Octopus are solitary, wild animals, who are particularly ill-suited to being raised in captivity and would suffer greatly on industrial farms; There is currently no legislation protecting the welfare of farmed cephalopods in those jurisdictions where octopus farming is being developed; Octopus farming raises significant environmental concerns due to new effluents being produced and subsequently discharged into surrounding ecosystems; Octopus farm escapes also pose a serious risk to local habitats and wild animal populations with a high potential of transmitting on-farm diseases; A substantial increase in the use of fishmeal and fish oil products to feed carnivorous farmed octopus will only contribute to the unsustainable pressure exerted on wild fish populations; Octopus farming also poses serious public health risks, as captive cephalopods could be vectors of multiple unknown pathogens and zoonotic diseases such as cholera; and Large-scale aquatic farms are a breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria and therefore contribute to the overuse of antibiotics and the dangerous creation of multidrug-resistant bacteria. We the undersigned residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to: Ban the importation of farmed cephalopod products into Canada; and Prohibit the breeding or raising of cephalopods in captivity on Canadian territory.

Government response

Response by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Signed by The Honourable Heath MacDonald, PC, MP The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s mandate is to safeguard food, animals and plants, to enhance the health and well-being of Canada's people, environment and economy. All imported foods, including molluscan shellfish products, such as cephalopods sold in Canada, must comply with Canada's food safety and animal health regulations. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has controls in place to help ensure that imported products do not pose risks to humans or animals. Under the Health of Animals Act and Regulations, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulates the import and domestic movements of finfish, molluscs and crustaceans to prevent the introduction and spread of regulated aquatic animal diseases to protect Canada's wild and farmed aquatic animal resources. In terms of domestic culture, there are no federally licensed farmed cephalopod operations in Canada. As it relates to the protection of Canada's aquatic animal resources, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency implements controls, such as domestic movement permits, to contain certain aquatic animal reportable diseases within areas of Canada where they are known to occur. A permit may be required to move susceptible species of live or raw, fresh or frozen molluscs for various end uses, including culture. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s aquatic animal health requirements under the Health of Animals Act and Regulations do not currently apply to cephalopods, as they are not susceptible to any regulated disease. For more information, please refer to: Declarations - inspection.canada.ca and Susceptible species of aquatic animals -inspection.canada.ca. The humane transport of all animals is also under federal jurisdiction. Part XII of the Health of Animals Regulationsapplies to the transport of all animals entering or leaving Canada or within Canada, including cephalopods, and must be complied with when transporting any animals. The following is a non-exhaustive list of a few examples of how the Canadian Food Inspection Agency may verify compliance with the transport of animals, as specified in Part XII of the Health of Animals Regulations: having the knowledge and skills to transport cephalopods, assessing and monitoring the risk factors related to the transport, animal handling that is appropriate to cephalopods, ensuring protection from inadequate environmental conditions, preventing the exposure to toxic or noxious things; and, appropriate container design and construction