Growing scientific evidence suggests lobsters, crabs, and other decapod crustaceans may experience pain and deserve welfare consideration.
For centuries, crustaceans were boiled alive without ethical consideration, based on the assumption they lacked the capacity to suffer. The scientific consensus has shifted: decapod crustaceans have nociceptors, respond to noxious stimuli in ways consistent with pain experience, and show behavioral changes that suggest aversive internal states. The extension of welfare protections to these animals represents an important moral frontier, and humane killing methods should become standard in food service and seafood processing.