Cruelty Towards Crabs

Crab scurrying across beach

When I was small I used to see crabs scurrying across beaches or near water. At that time all I knew about crabs was that if you try to grab them they will pinch you with their claws, so I never tried to grab them. Anyway, I wasn’t interested in grabbing them.

Me and my mum would go for long walks with BNHS (Bombay National History Society). On one walk we went to a stream and the guide showed us how to catch a crab then released it. Then I learnt that people could catch crabs and also eat crabs.

I soon learned that catching and killing crabs is painful for the crabs. A crab isn’t an animal who cannot feel pain. They clearly can feel pain.

So how do the fishermen catch the crabs? Surely they cannot catch the crabs one by one by hand.

To catch the crabs fishermen use several methods. They drag huge nets across the sea beach, ocean floor, river banks and river beds and set traps in the water. Often these two methods catch non-target animals like fish, birds and marine mammals. These non-target animals are thrown back in the water often dead or dying.

The crabs which are caught suffer injuries from rough handling. Many of them have their legs injured or torn off when the fishermen quickly rip them out of the nets. Lots of crabs die each year before even reaching the market.

Crabs are territorial animals so naturally when they are packed in containers they are scared and confused and may start fighting each other.

Crab with its legs torn off

I stay in Panchgani. In Panchgani town people come to sell live crabs. They bring them in a huge crate. When a buyer comes and tells the crab sellers how much crabs  he/she wants they will take out a plastic bag and put the crabs in it and then weigh the crabs in the weighing balance.

But the plastic bags they use are very weak. The crabs are pretty big so they can easily  break through the plastic bags. So what do you think the crab sellers do to prevent the crabs from escaping from the bags?

A clue is that it is very cruel.

Well, the answer is that the crab sellers grab a crab and snap off its legs, then weigh the crabs and put them into the bag.

In many places people don’t break of the crabs legs. But still the crabs suffer a lot.

Another very cruel thing is that how people cook the crabs. They directly drop them into a pot of boiling water and cook them alive. The crab is fully conscious, so it can feel all the pain. It is very painful.

Some people freeze the crab first to put it into a dormant state. But I personally don’t believe in that as the crabs live in pretty cold water so it might not put them in a dormant state. Even if they get into a dormant state they will very much feel uncomfortable until they become dormant.

So to save crabs from all this pain then people should better stop eating them.

Crab in a crate