The weekend science ticket with Mathilde Fontez, editor-in-chief of the scientific magazine Epsiloon today looks at the suffering of lobsters, crabs, crayfish and other crustaceans when thrown into boiling water for example …
franceinfo: Britain is recognizing the sensitivity of these invertebrate animals?
Mathilde Fontez: It is a decision which was taken on November 19 by the British Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: the animal welfare bill, currently being considered, will be expand to accommodate these animals. Until then, it only concerned vertebrates.
What triggered this?
A report from the London School of Economics, which was forwarded to the government. This report is quite colossal. He has accumulated 300 scientific publications to study the following question: cephalopods (octopus, squid, octopus …) and crustaceans (from lobster to shrimp, including crayfish) … are all these invertebrate animals capable to experience pain or stress?
And the answer is yes…
A categorical yes. There is plenty of evidence. These animals have nociceptors: pain sensors, like the ones we have in our skin. They have areas of the brain capable of processing this nerve information. They respond to pain relievers and anesthetics, which means they can feel pain.
They implement tactics to protect themselves from pain. In short, they are sensitive. The evidence is stronger in the octopus, which has long been known to be very intelligent, than in the shrimp, for example.
But the researchers who put these studies together are advocating no difference. Because what they’re actually saying is that the level of sensitivity of these animals largely depends on the number of scientific studies that have been done on them. Basically, you just have to look for the sensitivity of these animals, to find it!
So should we stop immersing live lobsters in boiling water?
That’s it. The British are going to have to change their ways. This is the conclusion towards which their government is heading: a list of good practices to avoid the suffering of lobsters and other invertebrates.
So yes, stop scalding them, or dismembering them alive. Scientists even recommend that the sale of these live animals be discouraged, to avoid any drift. Great Britain is not the first country to do so. In Switzerland, it has already been banned, since 2018, to cook lobsters without having knocked them out first.
And in France ?
There is no rule. The question was asked to the assembly in 2018, inspired by the Swiss example, without giving rise to a bill. But it is not excluded that the debate re-emerges …