Are shrimp and lobsters actually boiled alive? I’ve heard that they are, supposedly to keep them fresh and make sure they turned a pretty red or pink.
Can anyone point out research how much pain a shrimp or lobster of crab would suffer as a result of this?
I’m just determining the ethics of eating shrimp. When I die, I don’t want to arrive in Purgatory, section Bad Karma Repairs, to a welcoming comittee of giant angry looking lobsters with a man-sized boiling pot. 
This site seems to think that lobsters do feel pain:
http://www.gan.ca/en/exceptional/lobster.htm
But this site says they don’t:
http://www.lobsterinstitute.org/info/FAQ/consumerfaq.htm
Somehow I doubt you are going to find an unbiased answer, although this one at least says they don’t, and also doesn’t seem to be geared towards eating the little buggers:
http://octopus.gma.org/lobsters/trivia.html
It also contains info on how to hypnotize a lobster, if you are so inclined.
I don’t know about shrimp, but when we buy a bushel of live crabs to steam, we always throw out any dead ones we find. From what I’ve heard, cooking and eating already-dead shellfish will make you very sick.
As for pain, some say they do and some say they don’t. As for the ethics of it - I’m astounded that other people are actually concerned about this. Let’s face it - you are KILLING and EATING this living thing. Does it really matter how comfortable it’s last few moments are??
(Of course, I realize that to some it does. I’m just expressing the fact that it boggles my mind.)
Crabs and lobsters are definitely boiled alive normally. I’m not sure about shrimp, since they typically arrive at the dinner plate beheaded, but it’s possible.
One thing that’s for sure is that is they do feel pain, it’s not like we do. They don’t have skin per se, only that hard exoskeleton that doesn’t really allow for the range of sensation that our soft, fleshy skin allows.
But, for the sake of argument, let’s say they do feel pain exactly like humans do. Because of their relatively small size and the fact that they’re ectothermic, the boiling water would kill them in seconds. So even if they doo feel pain, it’s pretty quick compared to being ripped apart or swallowd whole as would happen to them in nature. By boiling them, you’re being merciful!
In come eastern cultures, they boil live dogs to eat. THAT can’t be pleasant to watch.
I never could understand why some people think that just because a creature is not human that it can’t feel pain. Why else would an animal/insect panic and thrash around when it comes into contact with something intended to harm it? I believe everything can feel pain.
BTW, Maine lobsters taste better steamed rather than boiled. They move around for quite a while when steaming though - the two I cooked last Sunday were still moving their legs 5 minutes into the process.
You definitely don’t want to eat shellfish that was dead for any period of time before it was cooked. There is a procedure I’ve seen where you split the lobster’s head with a cleaver immediately before cooking it - I’ve never bothered with it though.
Shrimp are not necessarily boiled alive. When I worked in the fish market of a grocery store we sold both pre-boiled, refrozen shrimp and never-boiled shrimp, in various sizes. All dead.
Are crayfish (crawdads, mudbugs) boiled alive? I’d hate to try to keep a pot full of those little suckers from crawling out.
Feel pain, yes. All animals are aware at some level when something bad is happening to it, and make some sort of attempt to escape it. The debate is really about whether or not they all experience pain the way we do. I’ve no doubt that animals like dogs and cats do. But do lobsters? Fish? I doubt it. True, these creatures have a relatively sophisticated nerbvous system, and can respond appropriately to pain stimuli, but do they experience pain? Probably not. I just don’t think their brains are developed enough for that.
shrimp/prawns are not always cooked live in all regions but it is done.
In the states, if you can get fresh prawns/shrimp (usually on the coast) the more upscale places will usually cook them live.
In most asian places I have been in SE Asia they are always cooked live, in fact most seafood (including fish) is live prior to being cooked.
This lead to a very awkward meal in Singapore where a vegetarian friend joined a group of me and a few other people for dinner. We ordered the “drunken prawns”. They brought our a glass bowl with a lid full of live prawns to show us they were still live and fresh. We approved and then they poured in a generous portion of some alcohol, which caused the prawns to start spasming and twitching, maing out vegetarian guest noticably uncomfortable. The others of us, never having had the dish before, were a bit shocked as well and had no idea they were goign to put on this display. Had we known we’d have not ordered it.
I have a rule. I don’t eat things that have been cooked while alive. Shrimp (at least around here) are beheaded and sold frozen or fresh on ice here.
As I hate lobster and live in the midwest (with little access to fresh seafood) this usually isn’t a problem. (oh, I miss crawfish… sigh).
One question, though.
Mussels? Cooked alive or dead first? Oh, and fried clams?
Alive aboslutely. Unless you plan on getting to know your bathroom REALLY well.
Before cooking you should always test them to see if they react (like tapping them on the table). Also when cooking them, any that donm’t open are to be diuscarded and not eaten.
I’ve cooked tons of lobsters and I’ve never heard one make a sound or show any discomfort when placed in the steamer.
People reach these conclusions by studying things rather than just deciding to believe something that suits them. Mammals feel pain, apparently essentially the way humans (mammals themselves) do. Other vertebrates – reptiles, amphibians, fish, etc. – are thought to feel pain, though perhaps in a different fashion. Invertebrates, which include insects and the crustaceans under discussion, have nervous systems so different from ours, and so comparitively simple, that pain is almost certainly not applicable. They “panic” and thrash around and move by reflex, just as your eyes close by reflex when something shoots towards them. Reflex is a very effective mechanism for such creatures. It does not require thinking or pain, which is good, since they can’t do either.
What?! Can you give any sort of credible evidence to back this up?
By the way, it’s crawfish. Yes, they are most definately alive when put in the boiling water. First you have to purge them a few times in fresh water to rid them of dirt and sand, then throw them in the boiling water (along with onions, potatoes, corn, and garlic). If you come across one with a straight tail while you’re peeling and eating them, you’re not supposed to eat it because it was dead when it went in the boil. I’ve also heard this is an Old Wives Tale. I don’t eat them just to be on the safe side.
As to them escaping, that’s what you have a lid for.
We had a bumper crop this season, too. Mmmm
[*Crayfish[/i is the more widespread usage, actually. Neither usage is actually wrong, per se, so your correction was unwarranted.
My coding was unwarranted, too. :smack:
We always called them crayfish up here (Mid-Atlantic) when I was a kid and we were catching them in the stream behind my house.
I just thought it was a regional thing like soda and pop.
(We never ate them, though - we had nice big Chesapeake Blue Crabs to eat!)
The crawfish is an inherent part of my Cajun culture. I believe we were the first peoples to actually appreciate the fine culinary uses of the crawfish (in the US at least). By rights we get to say which is proper. Other forms may be more widespread in usage, but it doesn’t make them right. I actually cringe when I hear the pronuciation “crayfish.” But I also cringe when I hear pecan pronounced “pee can”. A pee can is kept by the bed in case of night emergencies.
I have a delicate Southern ear and this is all just my humble opinion.
Hijack ended.