Welsh Government considers legislation to prevent lobsters being boiled alive

Abby Neve

The Welsh Government is to review the welfare of lobsters after declaring that boiling them alive is “unacceptable”.

Edie Bowles, the founder of the Animal Law Foundation, said: “We are overjoyed that lobsters and crabs will now get the legal protection they are entitled to and will no longer suffer as a result, as every animal deserves.”

The current regulations in Wales written in 2014 states that anyone engaged in the killing of an animal must not “cause any avoidable pain, distress, or suffering to that animal”.

Despite this, however, campaigners felt that the regulation did not clearly include lobsters, because it wasn’t until 2022 that they were recognised as able to feel pain.

Lobsters were recognised as sentient under the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. The RSPCA defines this as “an individual that can experience positive and negative feelings, such as pleasure, joy, pain, and distress.”

Despite the changes to the law in 2022, the Welsh government was yet to explicitly denounce the practice until now. In a letter to the Animal Law Foundation, they said:

“The boiling of animals alive is not considered an acceptable method of slaughter.”

The Animal Law Foundation, a charity which aims to strengthen animal protection laws, believes that this letter from the Welsh Government is a step forward for animal rights.

Edie Bowles said: “Challenging the government over this issue has been particularly close to my heart, due to the extreme suffering boiling alive involves, and the fact that it represents a clear example of the law on paper saying one thing, but the reality on the ground not reflecting that law.”

He added that scientists agree that the process is painful for the animals. He said:

“Being boiled alive while fully conscious can take many agonising minutes, and scientific consensus – including the London School of Economics scientific review – confirms that decapod crustaceans (lobsters) are sentient animals, capable of experiencing pain, distress and fear and that alternative, less painful, killing methods are available.”

The Welsh Government’s acknowledgement follows a similar change in England in 2025, where the UK government formally acknowledged in its Animal Welfare Strategy for England that live boiling is incompatible with regulations.  

The acknowledgement from Wales comes after a letter was sent by The Animal Law Foundation, supported by 42 organisations and legal experts. They asked the Welsh Government to reach the same conclusion as England under its own equivalent legislation.

The news is particularly poignant in Wales, where 90% of catches brought ashore are shellfish – mostly crabs and lobsters.

Llyr Gruffydd AS/MS, Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability, said the government is set to act: “The Animal Welfare Committee, an expert committee of Defra and the Scottish and Welsh  Governments, has been commissioned to provide an independent opinion on the welfare of lobsters and other decapod crustaceans throughout the UK supply chain. The committee will review the welfare impacts associated with the capture, landing and handling of these animals.”

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