You may have heard that Switzerland has recently passed laws making the act of boiling lobsters illegal. New Zealand also has rules that require commercially caught crustaceans to be stunned before being killed.

The RSPCA is calling for this legislation to be passed in Australia. It believes that all crustaceans must always be captured, handled, transported, and killed humanely.

What makes a creature crustacean, then? Crustaceans are:

Crayfish

Lobsters

Crabs

o Moreton Bay bugs

o Yabbies

o Prawns

Recent research has shown that crustaceans show signs of distress and pain. The mental ability to learn and remember unpleasant experiences is also present in crustaceans.

It is not very clear how different states and territories view the welfare of crustaceans. In some states and territories, crustaceans have a legal status that protects their interest. However, in other jurisdictions, it depends on whether they are intended for human consumption.

The RSPCA is of the opinion that if humans consume a crustacean, it should not be sold to the public. Instead, it should be killed humanely by trained professionals. All crustaceans must be humanely slaughtered before they are sold.

Ask the retailer to tell you how they killed the crustaceans to make sure it was done most humanely.