Do lobsters suffer?

Does any care? Thems some good eatin'. Luckily theres lobsters on every street corner in the NE.

[SIZE=+1]Whole Foods Market bans sale of live lobsters[/SIZE]

<SMALL>AP via Boston.com ^ | 15 June 2006 | Liz Austin</SMALL>


Customers craving fresh crustaceans will have to look beyond Whole Foods Market Inc. after the natural-foods grocery chain decided Thursday to stop selling live lobsters and crabs on the grounds that it's inhumane.
The Austin-based grocer, which has stores in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, spent seven months studying the sale of live lobsters from ship to supermarket aisle, trying to determine whether the creatures suffer along the way.
In some stores, they experimented with "lobster condos," filling tanks with stacks of large pipes the critters can crawl inside. And they moved the tanks behind seafood counters and away from children's tapping fingers.
Ultimately, Whole Foods management decided to immediately stop selling live lobsters and soft-shell crabs, saying they could not ensure the creatures are treated with respect and compassion.
"We place as much emphasis on the importance of humane treatment and quality of life for all animals as we do on the expectations for quality and flavor," John Mackey, Whole Foods' co-founder and chief executive, said in a statement.
Animal rights activities were thrilled with the decision, not just because of the way lobsters are harvested, shipped and stored but because of the fate that awaits many of them -- being dropped alive into a pot of boiling water.
"The ways that lobsters are treated would warrant felony cruelty to animals charges if they were dogs or cats," said Bruce Friedrich, a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In making its decision, Whole Foods pointed to a November report from the European Food Safety Authority Animal Health and Welfare panel that it said concluded all decapod crustaceans, including lobsters and crabs, appear to have some degree of awareness, feel pain and can learn.

(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...


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I love animals but cmon now.......



Based in Austin.....I shouldve know.

Of course they suffer, but who really gives a fuck??? It is a fucking lobster!!

I have steamed 1000's of blue crabs in my day, literally 1000's...It doesn't bother me that they're steamed alive, I have often wondered 'what a miserable way to go, these poor crabs' ,,,,then sometimes they pinch me when I'm out catching them and I don't feel so bad...They can do some damage if they get a hold of a finger.

cows, pigs, chickens,etc. also suffer.

does a deer suffer when shot by a hunter ?

We have to eat something. People will just go to Stop&Shop instead of A&P to save a trip. A&P will lose more business than they gain.

Journeyman said:

I have steamed 1000's of blue crabs in my day, literally 1000's...It doesn't bother me that they're steamed alive, I have often wondered 'what a miserable way to go, these poor crabs' ,,,,then sometimes they pinch me when I'm out catching them and I don't feel so bad...They can do some damage if they get a hold of a finger.

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LOLOL

i like that, they pinch you!

Ever been pinched by a crab claw, a really large one? It will do some damage, they're scared though so they usually just let go...a defensive mechanism.

I have more than my fair share of very funny crabbing/boating stories, trust me.

Including the time i had to dig my license out of the bottom of my jet ski compartment , with six live crabs in there, while a police boat waited....I was crabbing in a restricted area, so i didn't want them to know i had crabs in my seat...not smart!

only if the lobsters name is "artie"..then i will guarantee you they do suffer

That this topic is in the Off-shore Sportsbetting DaDeDa is a Joke. However, you have played into the second best thing I do after Winning at Gambling, Cooking.

Not long ago The European Union gave guidelines on Lobster Cooking, basically they didnt want you to put it in boiling water so that it whistles. The recommendation was to put it in cold water and bring to the boil, which according to Marine Biologists would put the Lobster into a comatosed state, hence a nice death.

Anyhow, I decided to try this new way and put the Lobster in the pot and turned on the Gas. While it was cooking I decided to watch some TV and have a Drink. After about 10 minutes there was an almighty noise in the Kitchen and a crash of the Saucepan lid hitting the ground. When I got out there the Lobster was half out of the Pot with his Claw hanging over the Cooker. It was then I realised, He was trying to turn down the fucking Gas. :drink:

I am crying right now, I just killed a ant and it didn't die right away.:cryingcry

My wife claims she can hear lobsters cry when I steam boil them. Personally I don't hear a thing..

I googled "Do lobsters suffer":


PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- A new study out of Norway concludes that it's unlikely lobsters feel pain, stirring up a long-simmering debate over whether Maine's most valuable seafood suffers when it's being cooked.
Animal activists for years have claimed that lobsters feel excruciating agony when they are cooked, and that dropping one in a pot of boiling water is tantamount to torture.

The study, which was funded by the Norwegian government and written by a scientist at the University of Oslo, suggests that lobsters and other invertebrates probably don't suffer even if lobsters do tend to thrash in boiling water.

"Lobsters and crabs have some capacity of learning, but it is unlikely that they can feel pain,'' the study concluded.

The 39-page report was aimed at determining if invertebrates should be subject to animal welfare legislation as Norway revises its animal welfare law. The report looked at invertebrate groups such as insects, crustaceans, worms and mollusks and summarized the scientific literature dealing with feelings and pain among those creatures without backbones.
It concluded that most invertebrates -- including lobsters, crabs, worms, snails, slugs and clams -- probably don't have the capacity to feel pain.
Lobster biologists in Maine have maintained for years that the lobster's primitive nervous system and underdeveloped brain are similar to that of an insect. While lobsters react to different stimuli, such as boiling water, the reactions are escape mechanisms, not a conscious response or an indication of pain, they say.

The Norwegian report backs up a study in the early 1990s at the University of Maine and reinforces what people in the lobster industry have always contended, said Bob Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute, a research and education organization in Orono.
"We've maintained all along that the lobster doesn't have the ability to process pain,'' Bayer said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Va., has made lobster pain part of its Fish Empathy Project, putting out stickers and pamphlets with slogans like, "Being Boiled Hurts. Let Lobsters Live.''

PETA regularly demonstrates at the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland, and 10 years ago placed a full-page ad in a Rockland newspaper featuring an open letter from actress Mary Tyler Moore urging festival-goers to forego lobster.

"If we had to drop live pigs or chickens into scalding water, chances are that few of us would eat them. Why should it be any different for lobsters?'' the ad read.

PETA's Karin Robertson called the Norwegian study biased, saying the government doesn't want to hurt the country's fishing industry.
"This is exactly like the tobacco industry claiming that smoking doesn't cause cancer,'' she said.

Robertson said many scientists believe lobsters do indeed feel pain. For instance, a zoologist with The Humane Society of the United States made a written declaration that lobsters can feel pain after a chef dismembered and sauteed a live lobster to prepare a Lobster Fra Diavolo dish on NBC's "Today'' show in 1994.

But Mike Loughlin, who studied the boiling of lobsters when he was a University of Maine graduate student, said lobsters simply lack the brain capacity to feel pain.

"It's a semantic thing: No brain, no pain,'' said Loughlin, who now works as a biologist at the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission.

It's debatable whether the debate will ever be resolved.

The Norwegian study, even while saying it's unlikely that crustaceans feel pain, also cautioned that more research is needed because there is a scarcity of scientific knowledge on the subject.

Whether lobsters feel pain or not, many consumers will always hesitate at placing lobsters in boiling pots of water. New Englanders may feel comfortable cooking their lobsters, but people outside the region often feel uneasy about boiling a live creature, said Kristen Millar, executive director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council. "Consumers don't generally greet and meet an animal before they eat it,'' she said.
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I've already had crabs steaming on the stove, walked outside, come back and they have powered out of the lid and are on the kitchen floor with seasoning all over them.

What's the diff between plain old boiling a lobster,and steam boiling one?

Steam boiling lobsters.

I call it steam boiling but essentially you really steam the lobster instead of boiling it. The best way to do it is to use a large 32 qt pot with a basket that hangs into it, with a heavy lid. Fill the pot with two or three inches of water and bring to boil then place lobsters in basket - cover and allow the steam to cook the lobsters. Steam (being hotter than water) will cook the lobsters a little quicker than boiling water. If you don't have the basket just boil rapidly as little water as possible (don't cook the pot dry though) and place lobsters in the water - 90% of the lobsters will be out of the water and they will steam instead of boil. The trick with steaming is to not overcook very tender lobster meat.




wil.

They dont suffer any more than I do after I shell out 25 bucks for a Surf and Turf dinner ...

Their suffering is quick , I feel mine for quite a while after opening that wallet...

World Number One said:

They dont suffer any more than I do after I shell out 25 bucks for a Surf and Turf dinner ...

Their suffering is quick , I feel mine for quite a while after opening that wallet...

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Excellent stuff WN1, havent seen you around lately, hope all is well with one of the RXs Sharps

Just throw yourself into a hot boiling pot of water and see if it hurts id imagine you would pass out pretty quick but might scream when you first hit the water.

But Humans are on top of the food chain you can bet the lobster would do the same to us if they were the top of the food chain.

I heard if you put the lobster in the freezer for about a half hour beforehand, they go into a coma and won't suffer when tossed in the pot.

This thread is making me hungry...Lobster is delicious!

Journeyman said:

This thread is making me hungry...Lobster is delicious!

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you can get 10 pounders here:

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