Move is part of a long-awaited Labour strategy including outlawing hen cages and ending puppy farming

Boiling lobsters while they are alive and conscious will be banned as part of a government strategy to improve animal welfare in England.

Government ministers say that “live boiling is not an acceptable killing method” for crustaceans and alternative guidance will be published.

The practice is already illegal in Switzerland, Norway and New Zealand. Animal welfare charities say that stunning lobsters with an electric gun or chilling them in cold air or ice before boiling them is more humane.

  • ilinamorato@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    4 hours ago

    I’m totally unfamiliar with how to cook a lobster, but “chilling them” doesn’t seem to make much sense to me. They live in the North Atlantic, where water temperatures tend to hover in the “refrigerator” range most of the year, and with salinity lowering the freezing point, probably goes even lower over the winter. Seems like chilling a lobster would just make it feel at home.

    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      2·
      4 hours ago

      Chilling them slows their metabolism down as they are cold blooded. Also you get different crustaceans, not all are from the north atlantic. The crabs I caught around the harbour were around 37°c 14°c. I presume the ideal temp varies by species.

      • ilinamorato@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        4 hours ago

        This news is about lobsters, specifically.

        But how would it slow their metabolism down? Unless they’re just eating non-stop at room temperature, that colder weather is what they’re adapted to.

        • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          1·
          1 hour ago

          The article headline isn’t government policy though. The government strategy only mentions lobsters once and its along with other crustaceans. Actions below that state they will make it clear live boiling is not an acceptable killing method. It isn’t completely clear but does sound like its for all of them.

          Lobsters and crabs are some of the highest tonnage caught commercially where I live and the water rarely goes much below 10°c in the coldest of winter.