Empathy for Lobsters: Why They Matter

Nikki Pontin

Lobsters are more than just seafood. They play a key role in healthy oceans, and new evidence shows they might feel pain. Treating lobsters with respect is gaining ground.

Empathy for lobsters is no longer a niche topic; it’s shaping how we care for our seas, our plates, and the creatures we share them with. Here’s why lobsters matter—possibly more than you thought.

Lobsters and Healthy Oceans

Lobsters play a big part in keeping ocean habitats balanced. They eat leftover fish, clean the seabed, and help control sea urchin numbers.

Supporting lobster welfare and ocean health go hand in hand. Cleaner beaches, smarter fishing, and less plastic all add up to a better life for lobsters and healthier seas.

Lobster Sentience: More Than Instinct

Somewhere in time, the myth arose that lobsters don’t feel pain. So some people therefore think that it’s okay to boil them alive (or keep them in crowded tanks). Also read of crab compassion.

Or freeze them while still alive, or even stab them through the head (most chefs can’t do this properly, so death is not immediate). The truth is that lovely lobsters live for up to 100 years in the wild (they are naturally blue, and only turn orange when cooked).

Lobsters lead mostly solitary lives (apart from spiny lobsters who rather cutely ‘hold hands’ to migrate across the ocean!) Lobsters have central nervous systems (which means they feel things), and this means they struggle terribly when cooked alive.

End Live Sales: Compassion in Supermarkets

The charity Crustacean Compassion (which campaigns to stop the sale of live lobsters and crabs) wants it to be illegal for non-trained people to kill them (the only ‘humane death’ is special stunning equipment, that most cooks don’t own).

They also want an end to langoustines (scampi) having their tails ripped off (while alive) and for it to be illegal for people to eat cephalodpods (octopus and squid/calamari) alive, which sometimes happens. Cuttlefish is another relative (dried versions are often used to entertain bored budgies in cages).

When doing surveys with supermarkets, it found that all (bar Marks & Spencer and Waitrose) have hardly any welfare policy for selling crustaceans.

Even though by law, they are now recognised as sentient beings under the 2022 Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act.

Sign the petition to ask the government to make it illegal to kill crustaceans inhumanely, send them in the post or keep them alive in tanks for human sale and consumption.

Top chefs do not understand nor seem to care of evidence that we need to highlight these abhorrent and outdated practices. It’s a shame to see their welfare so woefully covered on primetime TV. Dr Ben Sturgeon (CEO of Crustacean Compassion)

Although well-meaning, releasing lobsters from salt water to freshwater (or the other way around) usually won’t save them as they will die anyway. This is due to different water temperatures (lobsters are also cannibals and may well eat declawed lobsters released back into the

Beach Cleans: Protecting Lobster Homes

Lobsters often live among rocks and seaweed close to the shore. Rubbish and lost fishing gear threaten their habitats. Volunteers who take part in beach cleans remove harmful plastic and netting, reducing injuries and improving survival rates for baby lobsters. These efforts show how simple acts can directly improve life for sea creatures.

Plant-Based Alternatives to Lobster Meat

Most vegan lobster recipes suggest hearts of palm. If you use them, choose multi-stemmed ones for sustainability. It’s easier to sub with canned artichokes.

Keep these recipes away from pets, due to ingredients like onion and garlic. Read more on keeping people and pets safe in the kitchen.

This vegan lobster roll (Veggie Desserts) is made with hearts of palm (or use canned artichokes) along with celery, red onion, lemon juice, chives and Old Bay Season with vegan mayo.