Fishmonger buys 70-pound octopus just to set it free

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/05/25/fishmonger-buys-70-pound-octop.html

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Octopus is one of the things I don’t eat since they are too smart. I would definitely be happy to buy other, less intelligent, sea creatures from this monger.

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With their Intelligence, combined with general flavorlessness and a texture of chemically tenderized silicon, I can’t really see how the equation ever works out to “Yes, eat.” But that’s me.

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Takoyaki is good, not that I’ll ever taste it again to confirm.

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He’s just trying to curry favor for when the stars align and the Great Old Ones return.

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I read this.
It’s interesting.
Bravo to the people who have decided to stop eating octopus.

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A life doesn’t have more or less validity because a creature has more or less intelligence.

EDIT: nonetheless I applaud the freeing of this lovely creature! Mercy is a virtue, after all.

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That’s what they’re counting on; the octopus and the fisherman are running a con together. The octopus gets 50% of the proceeds every time he’s sold.

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Don’t most octopi only live, like, 3 years? If this one got to be 70 lbs, it must be pretty old. Not saying that changes the calc for buying its freedom, necessarily. Eat mor chikin.

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Good on ya!

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I think three years may be middle- to AARP-aged for octopuses so you’re right. I feel the same way about this “octo-genarian-pus” as I do people serving time in prison in their 80s. Set them free!

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octopodes and octopii too, if we’re scuttling down that sandy bottom

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Wait… So you only eat sand or something?

I’m assuming that you have some lower bound on intelligence, or else you’re gonna have a bad time.

Personally, I’m fine with eating anything that can’t score better than a combined 800 on the SAT.

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And my personal favorites: octopiddly-diddlies or Pocket Krakens.

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I too look in disgust at the bacterial genocide our society is now waging.

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round here, plural of squid is squiddies, and they are eaten

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Oh, I’m perfectly willing to eat intelligent creatures. I wouldn’t eat a human or other hominid simply because I don’t want to get nasty diseases.

I’m more concerned about sustainable harvesting and healthy environment and living conditions for all species than about the intelligence of my food… like I said, a life doesn’t have more or less validity because a creature has more or less intelligence, so I don’t feel guilty about eating clever, delicious cephalopods.

(I still do appreciate the quality of mercy, and releasing exceptional animals to continue breeding is arguably good husbandry.)

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Thank you, Gio. It is but one gesture, but - repeated over and over again - excellence becomes the virtue of the populace. I am not a fan of eating organisms that are distinctly complex (like but not limited to mammals). So much energy goes into their creation that they deserve their day in the sun (or the ocean, as the case may be).

I ate a baby octopus once, and last year I had squid stuffed with crab. Neither experience was enough to compel me to want to do it ever again. If we can subsist on a simpler diet, isn’t it our ethical responsibility to do so at this stage?

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Kudos to him.

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