Lobsters

Why Are We Still Boiling Lobsters Alive? Do we need to?

Whether or not they feel pain aside, it’s still unnecessary

The Swiss government recently banned the common culinary practice of plunging live lobsters into boiling water. According to Swiss public broadcaster RTS, the new measure demands that lobsters be stunned—either by electric shock or “mechanical destruction” of the brain—before being boiled.

The law also provides lobsters with protections while in transit: “Live crustaceans, including the lobster, may no longer be transported on ice or in ice water. Aquatic species must always be kept in their natural environment [saltwater].”

In response to this new order, U.K.-based animal welfare organization Crustacean Compassion released a petition calling on the British government to outlaw the practice of boiling (and dismembering) lobsters alive. Thus far, more than 37,000 signatures—including high-profile campaigners and celebrities—have been added.

Maisie Tomlinson, co-founder of Crustacean Compassion, also wants restaurants to upgrade their lobster tanks. “They should be kept in more natural environments, not crammed together in overcrowded tanks (or kept for hours on ice),” she says. “Many species of lobster are unable to adequately consume oxygen in the air, and they’re solitary creatures—it’s highly likely these practices are incredibly stressful for them.”

With all this in mind, did we ever really need to boil lobsters alive in the first place? It’s certainly true that lobster meat spoils quickly once the lobster is dead, which is why they must be transported alive (and kept alive in lobster tanks before being served). More specifically, lobsters and other shellfish have dangerous bacteria in their flesh, which multiply and release toxins upon death. So cooking the lobster alive (or very shortly after being killed) is your best bet for avoiding a nasty case of food poisoning.

But it’s that latter distinction—between “boiled alive” and “humanely killed, then boiled”—that has people arguing. Both the Swiss law and the British petition argue that lobsters are sentient beings, and therefore, shouldn’t suffer unnecessarily. Per the petition: “Scientific evidence has now demonstrated that crabs, lobsters, prawns and crayfish are highly likely to experience pain and even emotional anxiety.”

PETA also released a statement applauding the ban: “When they’re plunged into scalding-hot water, [crustaceans] can be seen writhing wildly and scraping at the sides of the pot in a desperate attempt to escape. To anyone in a civilized society, this legislation makes sense.”

Many researchers traditionally contend that crustaceans don’t experience pain, arguing that lobsters have a primitive nervous system incapable of processing it. “For an organism to perceive pain it must have a complex nervous system,” according to the Lobster Institute. “Neurophysiologists tell us that lobsters, like insects, do not process pain.”

But one of recent experiment found that hermit crabs (which are closely related to lobsters) abandon their shelters when exposed to electric shock. “The animals will pay a high price by leaving desired resources in order to get away from noxious stimulus,” says a researcher, suggesting that crustaceans will deliberately attempt to avoid painful situations. “They remember and learn very quickly to avoid places where they have received noxious treatment.”

PS: Lobsters are the biological closest cousins of cockroaches