Crabs Are Not Seaside Toys

The RSPCA has urged holidaymakers in Cornwall to rethink crabbing after its Animal Kindness Index found that only 45% of people believed crustaceans were sentient.

That framing is part of the problem. It does not matter whether people “believe” crabs are sentient. Belief has nothing to do with it. Crabs do not become sentient when humans tick the right box on a survey. The evidence says decapod crustaceans, including crabs, lobsters and prawns, can feel pain, distress and even positive emotions. That should be enough.

Crabbing means taking animals from their home, dropping them into buckets, surrounding them with noise, hands, nets and staring faces, then pretending this is education. It is not education. It is entitlement.

The RSPCA is right to question whether this needs to happen at all. But Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s response is despicable. They accept the evidence that crabs are sentient, then still defend crabbing as long as people use cold water, shade and fewer crabs in the bucket. That is not respect.

Then comes the heritage excuse.

Crabbing is part of local culture. Part of childhood. Part of holidays. It has happened for decades. So what?

Tradition does not turn exploitation into respect. It only proves people have normalised the same injustice for a long time.

Crabs are not memories.

They belong in the sea.