Lobsters are caught and kept alive before processing in ways that raise significant welfare concerns given growing evidence for their sentience.
The recognition of lobster sentience in UK law creates obligations for their welfare that current processing practices do not meet. Live boiling involves a period of consciousness during killing that causes suffering. Electrical stunning as used by companies including Crustastun provides rapid and effective insensibility. Consumer and retailer pressure for humane lobster slaughter is the primary driver of practice change in the absence of specific regulatory requirements.