Displaying live lobster on ice – controversial issue

I should admit that when I filmed this short video, I was thinking as a consumer who sees the best possible quality and freshness of a lobster when bought alive. In fact, most lobster consumers do not buy lobsters that are not alive and kicking. There are locations where the sale of a dead lobster to be eaten is illegal (e.g. Massachusetts). In regard to fish mongers, they promote their live lobsters and in return they get premium prices.

When I ran a quick search on displaying live lobsters on ice, I found considerable views which are in opposition to such practice.

In 2006, an Italian restaurant in Vicenza, Italy was fined the equivalent of $855 for displaying live lobster on ice. The charge was cruelty to animals, since the display was found a form of abuse because the crustaceans suffer from slow death of suffocation.

Under pressure from animal rights animal worshippers, one of the leading companies in natural and organic food have stopped selling live lobsters.