The welfare of lobsters during cooking has become a major public debate following Swiss legislation banning boiling of live lobsters, with growing scientific evidence that crustaceans are sentient and experience pain.
Lobster welfare has been transformed as a policy issue by scientific evidence establishing that decapod crustaceans have nociceptors, show avoidance learning, and self-administer analgesics when in pain. Boiling live lobsters causes prolonged writhing and struggling for several minutes before death. The Crustastun electrical device kills instantly and is available for restaurant use. Chilled transport suppresses lobster behaviour but does not eliminate the capacity for pain. Tail removal from live lobsters, practised in some fisheries, is likely to cause significant welfare suffering.