What is the most humane way to kill crayfish at home?
Signal crayfish are an invasive species in the UK. They are also really tasty and catching them can be a fun picnic activity for adults and children. A recent study has found that they, along with all decapod crustaceans, appear to be sentient and should be protected from unnecessary suffering:
There is also substantial evidence of sentience in astacid lobsters/crayfish (infraorder Astacidea). We have either high or very high confidence that these animals satisfy criteria 1, 2 and 4.
They have some recommendations, that appear aimed at professional catering establishments:
Slaughter (decapods). We recommend that the following slaughter methods are banned in all cases in which a more humane slaughter method is available, unless preceded by effective electrical stunning: boiling alive, slowly raising the temperature of water, tailing (separation of the abdomen from the thorax, or separation of the head from the thorax), any other form of live dismemberment, and freshwater immersion (osmotic shock). On current evidence, the most reasonable slaughter methods are double spiking (crabs), whole-body splitting (lobsters), and electrocution using a specialist device on a setting that is designed and validated to kill the animal quickly after initially stunning it.
I have searched for whole-body splitting (lobsters), but only get instructions relating to cooked lobsters. It also seems that doing so prior to boiling exposes the flesh to much more of the water as well as releasing intestinal contents, which would be expected to impair their flavor. I am somewhat familiar with working with electricity, and I could probably rig up something to expose them to mains AC, but it sounds tremendously dangerous to attempt. For reference the ones we tend to get are in the range 2 - 4 inches long.
What is the best way to kill and cook signal crayfish in a way that is consistent with humane animal welfare?
I note this question, but it is specifically about lobster, the greater size of which would make splitting easier and also the answers recommend methods that are advised against in the recent paper such as freezing (which in a domestic freezer could well be worse than boiling).
Best Answer
Food tech. guru Dave Arnold experimented with crustacean killing...mainly lobster, and mainly in search of quality. He wound up with the use of anesthesia as the best method...and probably most humane. He uses clove oil to do the job. It was done years ago, but you can read his entire post here. He adds 10ml of clove oil to 90ml of ethanol. He places lobsters in salt water (sea water is best, otherwise approximate ocean salinity). Then add about 2ml of anesthesia per gallon. Read the post. It is quite detailed and offers other options for fish and seafood slaughter.
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Quick Answer about "What is the most humane way to kill crayfish at home?"
The only humane way to kill a crayfish or crab was to chill it at between 2C and 4C until it was "insensible" and safely immobile. It could then be killed with a sharp instrument either by head spiking (between the eyes) or chest spiking (through the chest wall from the underside).How do you humanely kill a lobster before cooking?
Place the tip of a sharp chef's knife behind the lobster's eyes, right below where the claws meet the body and halfway to the first joint. Swiftly plunge the knife down through the head. The legs will continue to move a bit afterward but the lobster is in fact dead.How do you kill and clean crayfish?
Procedure: chilling in airDo crayfish feel pain?
Like lobsters, crabs, and crayfish, other marine animals feel pain. In fact, fish are similar to dogs and cats in their experience of pain and pleasure.What is the most humane way to kill lobsters and other crustaceans?
Stunning the crustacean by chilling it in cold air or an ice slurry - saltwater or freshwater, according to the species - for at least 20 minutes. Once the lobster is stunned, it should be mechanically killed as quickly as possible, says the RSPCA, by splitting it along the longitudinal midline on its underside.How to kill a lobster humanely, the way chefs do it. *graphic content*
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Answer 2
Timely question!
As you've ascertained, any form of head-splitting with a knife -- as you would for crabs or lobsters -- is impractical for crayfish, simply because they are too small.
Putting together several sources, the recommended method is: after purging and picking out the dead ones, place the crayfish in a freezer or in an ice slurry, until the crayfish are reduced to between 2-4C. They will be dormant and unconscious at that point, and can be thrown into a large pot of vigorously boiling water where they will theoretically die before really waking up.
Spiking their heads unfortunately does not work with crayfish due to their distributed nervous system structure. The only other method the RSPCA recommends is electrical shock, which is impractical for home cooks.
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