Oct. 10, 2007 The future sustainability of fishermen who declaw
edible sea crabs has been questioned by a Queen’s academic.
Professor Bob Elwood, from the School of Biological Sciences
studied crabs’ reaction to declawing. Crabs felt increased
stress and had a lower survival rate after the removal of one
claw. He said: “Should a crab survive declawing it will not be
able to feed effectively and may subsequently die of
starvation.” Under current UK laws, fishermen can legally remove
both claws and then put the animal back into the sea. According
to Professor Elwood, this can result in stress and a high
mortality rate for crabs. Professor Elwood said: “We found a
strong stress response within ten minutes of taking off one claw
and this stress remained after 24 hours. The stress response was
greater if the crab was declawed rather than being induced to
cast off a claw. So, the stress is not due specifically to claw
loss but to the manner of the claw loss. “In the past, declawing
has been defended because it has