Kona octopus farm to try rearing cephalopods sustainably
COURTESY SUSAN SCOTT
A day octopus is seen on Oahu’s North Shore.
KAILUA-KONA >> A researcher is hoping to rear octopus sustainably on land along the Kona Coast at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority.
Jake Conroy, CEO and president of Kanaloa Octopus Farms, started the farm in August using his own money to lease the space near Keahole Point, West Hawaii Today reported.
“I believe there is a market,” said Conroy about the need for sustainably raised octopus. “Octopus are fascinating animals and almost all aquariums have them — and that’s just the ornamentals.”
Octopuses are a good selection for aquaculture because of their brief life cycles and prolific reproduction and growth rates. The kind that Conroy is using takes less than a year to reach maturity.
“One of the animals that has been on the radar for aquaculture is octopus,” said Conroy. “There’s a lot of potential for them and, hopefully, I can rear them and provide them to aquariums — I would love to be able to supply the markets with sustainable sources and hopefully move up to a scale to provide octopus for eating.”
Conroy plans to start offering tours of his facility to fund the work and additional research until things get up and running. It’s the first such commercial farm in Hawaii and the U.S., he said.
“Scientists have been breeding them, but there’s been no real, full-fledged farms,” Conroy said.
At the facility, Conroy has four animals to use for breeding purposes — two male and female daytime octopuses and one nighttime octopus. He hopes to have 10 specimens in the near future as more tanks for the animals arrive. He has been breeding hermit crabs collected from the coast to provide food for planktonic octopus paralarvae.
Conroy said he recently introduced a pair of the daytime octopuses and believes the two animals copulated.
“They were all over each other,” he said. “I think, I’m hoping she’ll be getting ready to lay some eggs.”
19 responses to “Kona octopus farm to try rearing cephalopods sustainably”
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Bring on the Tako poke.
Prefer Japanese styled cooked squid with sweetened sho-yu sauce. Smells like the dickens in the cooking process, but ono!
IRT “Collecting hermit crabs” Ever notice how often you do not see hermit craps these days. They are easy to catch and the shells that they use for homes are collected by many beach goers. Also the aquarium trade sells them. I think that these little ocean cleaners are under a lot of stress in many areas.
Leino. Kids just waiting for the smartphone app that will catch the harvest of those critters for them.
Seriously? Hermit crabs are some of the most abundant creatures in the ocean. Look under any rock in a tidepool or underwater and you’ll usually see some. There’s definitely no shortage of these animals.
Don’t those octopuses die after mating?
This guy can’t possibly think he’ll feed enough hermit crabs to octopuses.
And what the heck are paralarvae?
Your online. Just look “paralarvae” up!
Bot fly larvae in Costa Rica?
I stopped eating tako many years ago after a lot of reading about the intelligence of these guys. They are amazingly evolved invertebrates who can discriminate color, shape, and make judgements among different choices. It’s just a personal thing for me but I’d much rather watch them and interact when we do night dives. Don’t need them for dinner.
Cello, I’m amazed at their intellect also. I remember sparing one with a single prong spear. I leftthe spear in the hole, as I needed to surface for air. While treading water, I saw the injured octopus deliberately slide his body up the entire length of the spear’s shaft. The animal escaped before I could retrieve the spear. It definitely deserved its freedom.
Interact? Like you are texting them?
they are really smart creatures, while diving for them I always saw my friends swim right over one that was hiding in plain sight.
A seafood diet is healthy because of its low fat content.
Consider investors?
Is this guy really serious?? He’s leased space at NELH, and is starting his “business” with only 4 animals???? Some locals use more tako than that just for bait when they go fishing!
I hope he is successful. Sustainable aquaculture can provide jobs to local residents, food for residents and visitors, a create a new branding opportunity to Hawaii seafood. My understanding is that aquaculture is a difficult business, but here’s hoping for the best for this new enterprise.
[…] Kona octopus farm to try rearing cephalopods sustainably […]
This is a neat idea, but octopus aren’t overfished. They have short life cycles and reproduce quickly, and the existing harvest already is “sustainable”.
My good friend has been exclusively hunting tako(not to sell) several times weekly for over 40 years. Like hawaiifisherman stated, harvesting is sustainable.