NIFS announced that it succeeded in breeding the artificial seed of giant pacific octopus healthy - a specialty of the east coast of Korea - over one year.

As the giant pacific octopus is the species with very high breeding difficulty, regarding over one year breeding, only two cases were reported until now: one was in Japan (1980, 1 octopus for 1 year and 2 months) and the other was in the U.S. (1986, 1 octopus for 3 years and 2 months). 

Through a wide range of research and experiments, NIFS clarified the initial feed, breeding environment and conditions, etc. of giant pacific octopus. Based on the result, NIFS has successfully bred the artificial seed hatched in February, 2024 for over a year (383 days as of on February 18, 2025). 

* The growth of giant pacific octopus artificial seed (body length, weight): after hatching (1cm, 0.04g) → 100 days after (3.2cm, 0.45g) → 200 days after (4.5cm, 1.3g) → 342 days after (8.3cm, 4.5g) 

To tackle various challenges in the process of culturing giant pacific octopus, NIFS established a 'panel on cephalopoda research*' with public-private-institute partnership since 2024, spurring technical development and industrialization of the giant octopus farming. 

*Centering on the East Sea Fisheries Research Institute of NIFS, the Hanhae Fisheries Resource Center of Gangwon State, the Korea Fisheries Resources Agency (FIRA), the LOTTE WORLD AQUARIUM join forces. 

※ Relevant video clips 

1. Larval after hatching (feeding on mysid)

https://video.nifs.go.kr:8443/upload/vod/encoding/2025/02/120ae217c07c417e873a627bfcb714df_media1.mp4

2. 321 days after hatching

https://video.nifs.go.kr:8443/upload/vod/encoding/2025/02/10e06167b2084ddda3064c432624620a_media1.mp4

3. 370 days after hatching (1)

https://video.nifs.go.kr:8443/upload/vod/encoding/2025/02/5f9c2510ef3b4977b6d551558c362a6c_media1.mp4

4. 370 days after hatching (2)

https://video.nifs.go.kr:8443/upload/vod/encoding/2025/02/bd91d0a3bcce42d4b0243294141da261_media1.mp4