Lobster // Current

Reconsider the Lobster: Sustainable Fishing in Maine

Clawing for answers about sustaining both lobsters and lobstermen. What could be... more

Dorothee
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Bomb-loving lobster Lionel explodes

Lionel the lobster had found the perfect home and he wasn't about to give it up for... more

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Lobster Fest- Redondo Beach, CA

Aug 26th 2009 Join thousands who come out to Redondo Beach in September to enjoy... more

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Lobster Fest- Long Beach, LA

The lobsters are coming! The Original Long Beach Lobster Festival flies in fresh, live... more

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Giant 100 year old Lobster goes to Aquarium not a Plate

A lobster aged 100 years old must be counting his lucky stars, as he's heading for an... more

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Whale Entangled off NJ

An entanglement team from the Massachusetts-based Provincetown Center for Coastal... more

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The good news for lovers of lobster is that a lawyer has invented a device that will dispatch the shellfish kindly and in a way that makes it taste better. Simon Buckhaven is the barrister inventor, inspired by an idea planted by his wife Charlotte, also a barrister. Both loved lobster but hated the idea of boiling crustaceans alive.
The Buckhaven's "Crustastun" is an RSPCA-approved machine that uses an electric current to humanely stun crustaceans, including lobsters, crabs and langoustines. The machine not only kills them kindly but, because it does not unduly traumatise the creatures, delivers tender, sweeter meat. "The cortisols and adrenalin found in the meat of a stressed animal make it tough and acidic," says Buckhaven.
As if this were not enough, there is a further bonus. Any bacteria developing in the live crustacean are also killed by the voltage, making them a safe food for up to 48 hours before cooking them. This is a great attraction for restaurants that lose money buying in live lobsters that die when in storage.
Today Buckhaven has brought his machine – a sleek, stainless steel lidded box no bigger than a wine crate – to the Blueprint Café in London, to be tested by chef Jeremy Lee. "You never want to hold live lobsters in the fridge," says Lee. "They lose weight and if one dies and you don't know when, you must throw it away, ruining your profit."
Like me, Lee wrangles with a love for the taste of lobster and crab, and guilt about its welfare. He was joint star (with Fergus Henderson) of the recent excellent Channel 4 documentary Could You Eat An Elephant? that explored the feelings we have about eating various beasts. "I am hugely interested in the idea that there will be a taste difference," he says.
Buckhaven sets up the machine, lifting the lid and filling it with water then adding a little salt. "The salt acts as an electrolyte," he explains. "A large 2lb lobster takes 2-3 minutes to die in boiling water but it takes half a second of 110 volts to stun a lobster and five more seconds to fully kill it." A live lobster is placed in the water inside the machine. It is docile, its tail tucked under its body. With the lid shut and locked it is submerged. "They like to be in the water," adds Buckhaven. He presses a button, waits five seconds for a red "ready" light to flash, then opens the lid and lifts out the lobster. "See, he's gone. We know because the swimmer legs underneath are moving, showing he has lost all motor control."The good news for lovers of lobster is that a lawyer has invented a device that will... more