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A sticky problem: Boom in taste for octopus squeezes market

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Whether it’s spiced in the Spanish style or sliced as Japanese sashimi, octopus as a dish is becoming a victim of its own popularity. Prices for the tentac
BUEU, SPAIN – Whether it’s spiced in the Spanish style or sliced as Japanese sashimi, octopus as a dish is becoming a victim of its own popularity.
Prices for the tentacled mollusc have about doubled in the past two years due to a global boom in appetite for these classic dishes. And supplies have tightened, with fisheries not yet able to farm octopus and relying on ocean currents to yield a good harvest.
This year has been hard, with lower catches in major producing countries like Morocco and Spain.
“The price will rise even more,” says Carmen Torres Lorenzo, who has been selling fish for three decades in the market of Bueu in Spain’s northwestern region of Galicia, famed for its octopus dish. “I wish a lot of octopus would appear… and the price will come down, but that won’t happen.”
The price of a regular size, locally caught octopus has risen from about €7 to €14 per kilogram (from $8 to $16 for 2.

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