No more live lobster for sale at Amsterdam markets
Live lobster and crab will no longer be for sale at markets in Amsterdam from January 1. Fur coats and other items made of real fur may also no longer be sold at markets. The city council has decided this. Not surprisingly, market traders are not happy.
The measure banning the sale of live lobster or crab is related to animal welfare. Recently, it has also become prohibited to advertise with animals or display animals at events, for example. From 2022, live lobsters and crabs may therefore no longer be sold at markets in Amsterdam either. ‘Together, we ensure that animals are healthy, well cared for and that the city remains a livable place for animals,’ the municipality’s statement says.
Stress and pain
Lobsters experience severe stress in the tanks where they are kept, explains the parliamentary leader of the Party for the Animals. ‘In nature, lobsters live solitary lives in a dark environment of deep water,’ says Johnas van Lammeren. ‘That is far removed from how they (…) sit crammed together in a brightly lit aquarium, with their claws tied together.’ Moreover, the lobsters go into the pot alive, and that causes terrible pain. The Party for the Animals is therefore also calling on its members to protest against the Jumbo supermarket in Noord, where live lobster is sold.
‘It could be worse’
Fishmongers are not happy with the new measure. ‘There are things that are much more serious,’ says fishmonger Schilder at the Albert Cuyp market. He sells live lobsters and crabs. ‘This has been happening since time immemorial. It is normal at markets around the world, and animals are sometimes treated even worse there.’
Food poisoning
Chefs are responding to the news on Facebook. Nils says: ‘As a chef, I can tell you that many people are going to get sick. If you don’t know when the lobster was killed, you don’t know how fresh it is. I’m one hundred percent sure this will lead to cases of food poisoning.’ Chef Martin wonders how this applies to other live products: ‘Fresh mussels will be banned next.’ Good point, Martin—and what will happen to oysters?
End of story
The municipality does not care. Lobsters and crabs are banned from all 34 markets in the city from January 1, end of story. And the ban will be enforced, the alderman warns.
Read also:
- Straight from the ditch into the pot: what you need to know about crayfish
- Caviar and lobster from the vending machine at Zwarte Cross
- 5 things you didn’t know about mussels
Source: Parool, NH Nieuws
