SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by John Sackton Sept. 19, 2013 — With the recent PETA video of lobster butchering, some retailers have called lobster dealers asking whether the video shows if lobsters feel pain. The video was of a trainee being shown how to separate the claws and tail of a live lobster prior to its being frozen.
The video makes the attempt to convince the viewer that whatever a lobster feels must be the same as a mammal or other animal. However, scientists say this is not the case.
The most comprehensive report on whether invertebrates such as lobster can feel pain was written in Norway, in response to a Norwegian government request. The government was looking into whether invertebrates including lobsters should be covered under the country’s animal cruelty laws.
The basic conclusions of the scientists are that it is unlikely that lobsters feel pain in the manner we assume vertebrates do.
“The capacity of animals to react to harmful stimuli is called nociception. In contrast to pain, nociception is the unconscious response to noxious stimuli. Rapid withdrawal in invertebrates is often based on short neural circuits from neural cells to muscles. Some rapid reflex arches include so-called giant nerve fibers. Examples of reflexes are the reaction to air movements in cockroaches [kakerlakker], flapping of the tail in lobsters [hummer] and hiding of the antennae in snails.”
In spite of the violent reactions of lobsters and crabs when put in boiling water, it is assumed that these are reflexes to noxious stimuli.
In conclusion, it appears that most invertebrates probably are unable to feel pain. As long as the questions of sentience and pain remain uncertain, however, concern should at least be given to more advanced species of invertebrates during handling and in captivity. Cephalopods and social insects may be particularly vulnerable.
Among various invertebrate groups, the researchers conclude that arthropods, which include crabs and lobsters, have some of the more simple nervous systems in the group, while cephalopods, especially octopus, have some of the highest developed. Accordingly, they conclude it is unlikely that lobsters experience pain, rather they experience reflexive unconscious actions in relation to their environment.
A link the to the full study is here. We urge anyone with questions to read it.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.