An animal rights organisation has become involved in ‘lobstergate’ by placing billboards encouraging people not to eat the shellfish.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has put up the billboards at the Sea Terminal urging people not to eat lobsters.
Last month, former Deal or No Deal presenter Noel Edmonds and his wife Liz hit the headlines after buying two live lobsters from the Farm Shop at the Swiss Chalet in Glen Helen and releasing them into Peel Harbour.
Following the controversy, the Isle of Man Farm Shop Company announced it was considering removing the live lobster tank from its Glen Helen store.
Mr Edmonds later shared footage of the release online, explaining that he and his wife had felt ‘a little bit uncomfortable’ seeing the lobsters in a tank.
The video prompted widespread debate on social media, with some questioning whether it was appropriate to release shellfish that had been kept in a controlled environment back into the sea.
Now PETA has joined the debate and says up to 97,000 ferry passengers will see the billboards during August.
PETA vice president Elisa Allen said: ‘Lobsters have unique personalities, value their lives, and feel fear, joy and pain, just like we do, and they deserve better than to be boiled alive for a fleeting moment of taste.
‘PETA encourages everyone to show kindness to these wonderful individuals by leaving them in peace, not pieces - and opting for delicious vegan foods instead.
‘Lobsters are intelligent individuals who explore their surroundings, can remember other individual lobsters, and use complex signals to establish social relationships.’
UK law recognises lobsters as sentient beings under the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.
PETA says chefs typically place lobsters into pots of boiling water while they are still conscious - a practice it says is so cruel that it has been banned in Switzerland.
Explaining why he and his wife Liz released the lobsters, Mr Edmonds said in an Instagram post: ‘We were in there and Liz saw two lobsters in a tank, that's all there were.
‘She said, “I feel sorry for them in the tank” and shop owner Matt said, “You are not the first person to say that actually.”
‘She said she would like to buy them and release them. Matt then offered us the lobsters as a gift, but we paid for them because we felt that was really important.
‘He told us how to release them and take the little bands off the claws, and off we went. That is the absolute truth.
‘At that point the lobsters were ours and it was our choice to return them to their natural environment as best we could. We had to do it in the harbour because we don't have a boat.’
Matt Harrison, managing director of the Isle of Man Farm Shop Company, previously said he was still considering removing the lobster tank following customer feedback, despite believing the animals had been well cared for.