# Octopus farming: They're that good to eat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585 "2022-04-09T17:34:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/41 "2022-04-10T15:50:32Z")
Well, a pig like that, you don’t eat all at once! ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/42 "2022-04-10T16:08:13Z")
I had octopus as part of a tapas evening at a Spanish restaurant, I had never had it before, and two of my coworkers were thrilled to find it on the menu. It was really good. So good, that a few months later I ordered octopus on my own, at a restaurant in London. I probably won’t eat octopus again, for the reasons already listed. I already eat less meat and fish that some years ago, so I don’t need to expand my meat and fish options. That said, I’ll probably still eat calamari. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/43 "2022-04-10T16:14:18Z")
Octopuses are not vegetarians. They are predators. If they were large enough, the would not have any qualms about eating us. So I don’t have any qualms about eating them. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/44 "2022-04-10T16:15:43Z")
Has anybody mentioned ceviche, yet? My favorite taqueria has a ceviche tostada that they make on Fridays and octopus is the only “fish” in it and it’s very tender prepared that way. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/45 "2022-04-10T17:22:54Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Octopuses are not vegetarians. They are predators. If they were large enough, the would not have any qualms about eating us. So I don’t have any qualms about eating them. Cats are not vegetarians. They are predators. If they were large enough, the would not have any qualms about eating us. So I don’t have any qualms about eating them. Well? Same logic. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/46 "2022-04-10T17:56:18Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Cats are not vegetarians. They are predators. If they were large enough, the would not have any qualms about eating us. So I don’t have any qualms about eating them. I imagine they aren’t that tasty (unlike octopus). It appears that almost everywhere that cat meat is eaten it is for famine, medicinal, or superstitious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/47 "2022-04-10T18:33:44Z")
What if the farmed ones are bred to be so dumb they couldn’t survive without human intervention like chickens, turkeys and cows? I’m being serious. Those “smart” octopus are those that evolved those traits through natural selection. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/48 "2022-04-10T19:04:40Z")
What I learned today. Octopus traps are not baited. They are just tight places that an octopus might take refuge in. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Kami-shima_Island_-_Octopus_traps.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Kami-shima_Island_-_Octopus_traps.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/49 "2022-04-10T19:14:09Z")
I’ve seen videos of conch shells being used as an ancient form of fishing for the same purpose. The octopus goes inside looking for a meal and good place to hide. Since they have no bones, they can squeeze through the tiniest holes. Here’s a video of one escaping through a tiny hole on the side of a boat. Some say it’s a sign of intelligence. IMO, it’s just natural instinct and trial and error. I once watched a fly on my screen window travel around until it found a hole to escape. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/50 "2022-04-10T19:22:53Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > That second problem raises the possibility that eating such an intelligent animal may be considered unmoral by some. Still, they do taste delicious! This summarizes my feelings about octopus very well. It’s delicious, but i wonder if they are too intelligent to eat. Perhaps it depends on the species. > [@Didi44](#): > > Pigs have been proven to be highly intelligent, but I have no problem eating them. I’ve cut way back on pork, too. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/51 "2022-04-10T19:25:53Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > Some say it’s a sign of intelligence. IMO, it’s just natural instinct and trial and error. Their intelligence doesn’t seem to extend to avoiding predation by humans. Because the entrances to their lairs are littered with the shells and bones of their prey it is easy for divers to locate them. And as noted above, catching them is as simple as leaving a length of pipe on the sea floor. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/52 "2022-04-10T19:32:04Z")
WRT pigs and octopuses, it just seems there is no shortage of things/beings to eat. I don’t have to make a point of eating ones that are so intelligent. (At least I’ve never heard of producers torturing octopuses, or polluting waters with their feces.) And I don’t consider myself to be an animal nut. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/53 "2022-04-10T19:50:13Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Their intelligence doesn’t seem to extend to avoiding predation by humans. They do seem able, however, to factor higher-degree polynomials and solve simple differential equations. (See post #32, above.) I suspect they do it by quantum computing methods. That’s gotta count for something! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/54 "2022-04-10T20:03:15Z")
WRT their intelligence it seems to me worth mentioning their reproductive habits: the females lay lots of eggs on themselves, while hiding on a suitable hole where they feel protected, and move their tentacles just enough to keep the eggs ventilated, i.e., they supply the oxygen the eggs need to breathe. When the eggs hatch at last the female dies so the hatchlings have some food after having eaten the yolk of the eggs they were given by the same mother they now can feast upon. Then they are alone, fighting for survival all by themselves. They get no parenting, no education. Now imagine what they would be able to achieve if they had evolved some teaching habits. Complex differential equations? Special Relativity? And they have a short lifespan, if they lived as long as naked apes, I postulate they would be able to demonstrate that Godott exists, has tentacles and is called Cthulhu. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/55 "2022-04-10T20:11:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, a pig like that, you don’t eat all at once! /snickers/ My uncle is a marine biologist. He has told me stories about an octopus at one of the facilities where he worked. It would climb from the tank at night and wander around. This was somewhat annoying, but also somewhat amusing. It wasn’t taken too seriously. Then it figured out how to pull the drainage plug on one of the other tanks. This was NOT fine. Octopus containment measures became more serious after that. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/56 "2022-04-10T20:15:52Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > > [@Chronos](#): > > > > Well, a pig like that, you don’t eat all at once! My buddy used to tell that one about his 3-legged cat… ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/57 "2022-04-10T20:27:22Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > He has told me stories about an octopus at one of the facilities where he worked. Oh, please, do share more octopus stories if you have them. The little stinkers are hell-bent on mischief! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/58 "2022-04-10T20:30:37Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > My uncle is a marine biologist. He has told me stories about an octopus at one of the facilities where he worked. It would climb from the tank at night and wander around. They do some hunting on land. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/F5fZu-1bt6Y/maxresdefault.jpg "Octopus gets crabby in Yallingup") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5fZu-1bt6Y) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/59 "2022-04-10T21:05:48Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Oh, please, do share more octopus stories if you have them. The little stinkers are hell-bent on mischief!   Bored Panda has a few. > **[People Share The Most Incredible Things Octopuses Have Done And We May Have...](https://www.boredpanda.com/smart-octopus-stories/)** > > In nature, octopuses only live in waters full of salt. But that doesn't mean they're salty themselves. Tubmlr users have been sharing wholesome stories about these soft-bodied creatures, and a whopping 790K people have liked their thread on the... Google “funny octopus stories” to find more. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585/60 "2022-04-10T21:36:01Z")
Good thing they don’t have opposable thumbs or the equivalent… _or do they??!!!_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/octopus-farming-theyre-that-good-to-eat/962585.md?page=4)