The Octopus: From Suggestive Creature to Globalized Commodity

This month’s newsletter explores a marine creature that has been historically featured in mythology: Octopus vulgaris, the most widespread octopus species in the Mediterranean Sea. Our cofounder, Davide Mancini, provides a multifaceted portrait of this mollusk — renowned for its nine brains and exceptional qualities — drawing on information collected as part of his ongoing investigation into illegal fishing. Davide, in fact, is conducting this research as an Ocean Reporting Network Fellow at the Pulitzer Center, a Washington-based organization that supports in-depth journalism on issues often overlooked by traditional media coverage.

The octopus is a puzzling, elusive animal by nature. It also escapes official statistics concerning the true volume of its capture and trade. As no quota system exists for fishing octopus, it is challenging to determine the actual catch. Moreover, this animal is often caught as bycatch during trawl fishing on sandy seabeds, which makes it less likely to be tracked compared to other species. The octopus is better targeted by artisanal fishers, caught with pots and traps near rocky coastal areas where this creature typically hides. In regions such as Sardinia, for instance, 70 percent of octopus are caught by small-scale fishers often working at the family level.

As more profitable commercial pelagic species decline due to overfishing, the octopus has traditionally served as a “fallback” species for artisanal fishers, providing an accessible catch when other fish are scarce. In recent years, however, its tentacles have become increasingly popular in international cuisine, driving up market demand. It is estimated that, since the 1950s, global octopus catches have increased eightfold.

In Europe, 77 percent of the commercial value of octopus is generated by just four countries — Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece — where the species holds an important place in culinary tradition. However, this does not mean that the octopus eaten in these countries is fished in their waters. On the contrary, chances are high that the octopus found in Mediterranean supermarkets or served in European restaurants originates from the FAO 34 catch area: the Atlantic coast of West Africa, particularly from Mauritania, Morocco and Senegal, where it is harvested in large quantities (see graphs below).

The peak of Octopus vulgaris catches in the Mediterranean occurred in the mid-1980s, after which they began to decline gradually, at least according to available data. This decline is attributed to factors such as overfishing, changing environmental conditions in the Mediterranean and a lack of regulation to manage its population.

In Italy, for example, approximately 3,000 tonnes of octopus are caught annually, compared to 1,600 tonnes in the Mediterranean waters of Spain and 2,000 tonnes in Greece. Yet, the actual consumption volume is far higher. This discrepancy is offset by imports, primarily from Spain, which plays something of a broker role in the globalized Octopus vulgaris market — purchasing octopus from non-Mediterranean countries and reselling it within the European Union and elsewhere. For instance, Italy imports 15,000 tonnes of octopus from Spain, though only a small portion originates from Spain’s Atlantic or Mediterranean waters (see graph 2 below).