What Happens to Crabs Killed for Food?

Every year, fishers in the United States kill hundreds of millions of crabs.⁹ Fishers use several methods to catch crabs, including setting traps in shallow water and dragging huge nets along the ocean floor. These methods also capture nontargeted animals such as birds, fish, and other marine animals—termed “bycatch” by fishers—who are thrown back into the water and are often dead or dying.

The crabs, who are naturally territorial, are crowded together in holding containers while they await their fate—scared and confused, they may fight with each other after already suffering injuries from rough handling. Many crabs have their legs damaged and torn off when fishers quickly rip them from the nets. Countless crabs die each year before they even reach the market.

Crabs used for food are subject to killing methods that would warrant felony cruelty-to-animals charges if the victims were cats, dogs, cows, or pigs. Like lobsters, crabs are often thrown into pots of scalding-hot water and boiled alive—the crabs will fight so hard against a clearly painful death that their claws often break off in their struggle to escape. Some crabs used for food are electrocuted, some are chopped up, and others are microwaved—all while they are still conscious.

Read about what you can do to help crabs.

⁹H.M. Johnson & Associates, “2004 Annual Report on the United States Seafood Industry,” 2004, 12th ed.: 63.

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