Do lobsters have feelings? – podcast

Science Weekly

The Guardian

Science

4.2 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2021

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Last week the UK government confirmed it would be extending its animal welfare (sentience) bill to include decapods (such as crabs, lobsters and crayfish), and cephalopods (such as octopuses, squid and cuttlefish). The move followed a government-commissioned review of the scientific evidence, which found strong evidence that cephalopods and decapods do have feelings. Madeleine Finlay spoke to Dr Jonathan Birch, who led the review, to ask what it means for lobsters to have feelings, and what difference it should make to how we treat – and eat – them. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Guardian.
0:10.0	It's a food that epitomises fine dining.
0:15.0	I mean this is Decident, this is rock and roll baby, this is awesome.
0:19.0	I've got myself, as you can see, a lovely live lobster.
0:23.4	This is from meal for that even in Pan-brother.
0:25.1	Although the traditional way of cooking it
0:28.2	could be viewed as, well, rather gruesome,
0:31.9	being boiled alive.
0:34.0	She may thrash a little bit when she gets in the pan.
0:37.0	So you want to be ready with the lid.
0:38.0	We're going to drop it in tail first.
0:40.0	That way that if she tries thrashing at all, as you're doing it, you're not going to get covered in boiling water.
0:45.0	Boiling and cooking live seafood, like crabs, squid and even octopuses, is still pretty common. All right, here we go, we have some live octopus.
0:55.7	Oh no, he's trying to climb out.
0:59.1	Oh, no, he's trying to climb out.
0:59.9	Oh, no.
1:01.9	But that's starting to change. A recent review has led the UK government to consider
1:08.7	following other countries like Switzerland and New Zealand in making this practice illegal.
1:15.0	The question of whether these animals are sentient has been the subject of a lot of scientific research and the evidence suggests that they are.
1:27.6	So what do cuttlefish crabs and lobsters really feel and if they can experience pain, distress, joy and pleasure
1:35.8	should we be rethinking how we treat and eat them. From the Guardian I'm Madeline
1:42.3	Finley and this is Science Weekly.
	...

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