Gov. Gavin Newsom Monday signed a bill into law to ban the farming of octopuses and farmed octopus sales.

Under AB 3162, also known as the California Oppose Cruelty to Octopuses (OCTO) Act, authored by Assemblymember Steve Bennett whose 38th District includes Oxnard, Ventura and the Channel Islands, it is illegal for anyone to engage in the aquaculture of octopuses meant for human consumption. 

The new law also bans business owners or operators from knowingly selling octopuses that came from octopus farms. 

Although octopuses may not be part of an average Californian’s meal plans, those who support AB 3162 argue that as the popularity of the sea animals for human consumption exploded in the last 50 years, there is also a growing interest in developing octopus aquaculture. 

The new law to ban octopus farming was initially proposed based on two reasons: Cruelty against octopuses, which are known to have a high level of cognitive ability, and environmental concerns. 

“Octopuses are among the most intelligent, complex life on Earth. Farming them is not only inhumane but poses significant environmental risks,” Assemblymember Laura Friedman, who sponsored the bill, said to an animal advocacy group. “Rather than turning to unproven ‘farming’ methods to raise and slaughter octopuses, we should be protecting our marine ecosystem to better enable marine species to rebound.”  

There is no known large-scale octopus farming and harvesting in California, but the law would take a proactive step in promoting animal welfare, allowing California to become the second state in the U.S. to ban the aquaculture of octopuses, supporters said. 

Octopus farming also poses environmental consequences, the bill’s author said, because aquaculture facilities pose a risk of nitrogen and phosphorus runoff, which could lead to pollution and potential algal blooms, which could be devastating to California’s marine ecosystems. 

The new law still allows the fishing of octopuses with a permit in state waters as long as the daily limit does not exceed 35 octopuses. 

While there were no opponents to the bill, a number of environmental groups supported the bill. 

A Southern California man charged with shooting and wounding two Jewish men as they left synagogues in Los Angeles last year was sentenced Monday to 35 years in prison, federal prosecutors said.

The February 2023 shootings raised fears among the city’s Jewish community after officials said the victims were targeted because they wore clothing that identified their faith, including black coats and head coverings. Both men survived.

Former Riverside resident Jaime Tran, 30, pleaded guilty in June to two counts of hate crimes with intent to kill and two counts of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

“After years of spewing antisemitic vitriol, the defendant planned and carried out a two-day attack attempting to murder Jews leaving synagogue in Los Angeles,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.

Tran told law enforcement that he looked online for a “kosher market” and decided to shoot someone nearby, according to an FBI affidavit.

Tran had a “history of antisemitic and threatening conduct,” the affidavit said, citing a review of emails, text messages and unspecified reports.

“Targeting people for death based solely on their religious and ethnic background brings back memories of the darkest chapters in human history,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said. “We hope the sentence imposed today sends a strong message to all in our community that we will not tolerate antisemitism and hate of any sort.”

In 2022, the FBI affidavit said, Tran emailed former classmates using insulting language about Jewish people and also threatened a Jewish former classmate, repeatedly sending messages like “Someone is going to kill you, Jew” and “I want you dead, Jew.”

“As millions of Jewish Americans prepare to observe the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Justice Department reaffirms its commitment to aggressively confronting, disrupting, and prosecuting criminal acts motivated by antisemitism, or by hatred of any kind,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in the statement. “No Jewish person in America should have to fear that any sign of their identity will make them the victim of a hate crime.”

Police activity connected to a break-in early Monday at a pharmacy closed the 710 Freeway at the Long Beach International Gateway bridge.

Police responded to the break-in in Wilmington at about 4:20 a.m. Several people who attempted to break into the pharmacy led police on a chase that ended on the bridge.

The bridge, which connects downtown Long Beach and Terminal Island, was closed early Monday.

One of six to eight people sought in the burglary was taken into custody, police said.

The bridge, a replace for the historic Gerald Desmond Bridge, opened to traffic in October 2020. It was officially named the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge by the California Legislature in August 2022.

About 15 percent of the nation’s imported waterborne cargo is trucked over the bridge.