WDFW considering ban on octopus hunting in Puget Sound

After the recent outcry over the killing of an octopus off Alki Beach, the State Department of Fish & Wildlife is now looking into banning octopus hunting in the Puget Sound.

“We’re initiating a rule-making process, which is to say that we’re going to be convening some public meetings,” says WDFW spokesman Craig Bartlett. “It’s really the first step in considering whether some sort of a ban on octopus hunting is allowed.”

This move comes after public outrage over a diver legally pulling a giant pacific octopus out of the water and tossing it in the back of his truck.

“Everybody that I’ve talked to, veterans here at the department, say it’s just never been an issue before. But I guess in this case, it was in a very public area, a popular area, and it did cause quite an outcry there.”

Bartlett says under current law, a diver can kill one octopus a day.