The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has designated the octopus as vulnerable to extinction due to overfishing and habitat destruction. In 2010, there were only about 560 000 octopi left in the world - half of which were located in waters around Japan.

Eating an octopus is unethical. While a living being's intelligence has nothing to do with its right to live, octopus is still a highly intelligent animal with a developed nervous system. Octopi are capable of feeling pain just like humans do. They experience anxiety as well and suffer immensely if they were caught in fishing nets or eaten alive. In addition, they release a horrible odor when they're stressed or angry which makes them even more undesirable as food sources.

Octopi are fascinating creatures and are struggling to keep up with their population, once again because of humans. The last thing they need is us hunting them now.