Do you buy lobster tails?

[grf88]

If you investigated why bananas are so inexpensive I think you would probably think twice before buying them. Having just read about the pitiful wages and working conditions I am now looking for a source of Fair Trade bananas.

 

[Thalassamania]

I grow my own bananas, or buy them from the neighbors, and I do not have a TV ... but those are not the issues on the table at the moment. We all unknowingly participate in things that, when taken to the source, are harmful and destructive. The question is what do we do about it, if anything, once the problem comes to our attention. If you are a TV watcher, it may be impossible to not buy a Chinese manufactured TV (though the claim of forced labor may be spurious when applied to a particular product), boycotting lobster tails that you do not catch yourself is rather an easy step and would, if everyone understood the issue, fix the problem rather quickly.

 

[Mike Boswell]

Most all tropical lobster tails that you see in stores come from either the Honduras/Nicaragua or Brazilian suppliers.

The store I frequent lists the source as Honduras.

I wonder why more isn't being done to bring this to people's attention? I don't think anybody would knowingly support this ongoing human tragedy.

 

[Blackwood]

I'm not a big fan of lobster.

Shrimp, on the other hand...

 

[ScubaSteve]

I don't think anybody would knowingly support this ongoing human tragedy.

I think you would be sadly mistaken but nobody knows. I doubt most people would give it up without a replacement source.

 

[Wookie]

I like my lobster tails still attached to the lobster and kicking. I buy them packed and shipped from Maine by my cousin, a Maine lobster dealer. I think they are yummy. Maine fishermen are exploited, too.

 

[Thalassamania]

The store I frequent lists the source as Honduras.

I wonder why more isn't being done to bring this to people's attention? I don't think anybody would knowingly support this ongoing human tragedy.

Bob started working on this problem back in the early 1980s, I guess it's just not sexy enough to attract the right kind of attention, the injured live in rather remote, coastal villages and are not right up in anyone's face.

 

[timegan]

As being an Ontario great lakes kinda fella. How do you tell a "tropical" bug from a Maine or Nova Scotia bug? Is the tropical one, the spiny lobster, with no big pinchers?....Lets suppose, everyone that loves to eat this delicacy, should demand "live only" kosher if you will. The logistics alone to supply, would focus on relatively local, catch N consumption. Enough to meet supply N demand, thats all. More sustainable maybe? At least for the lobsters it will. Not to hard for the consumer to just buy LIVE. Not available ...oh well! Wait for the season. "just like sweet corn and tomotos in season in Ontario" mmmmm Worth the wait, it's a DELICACY right? My 2 anyway.

 

[drrich2]

If these people are undergoing hazardous conditions to get lobsters to sell, I take it they may not have better opportunities. If we don't eat lobsters, they may be stuck with something even worse.

It's like the alleged sweat shop situation in China & some other countries; I assume for people working in them, that's the best they can currently do, and if you took their sweat shop away, they'd be even worse off.

Sad and sick as it sounds, sometimes the thing worse than having a sweat shop job is not having a sweat shop job.

Do these lobster divers have better opportunities doing something else? If so, are they just kept ignorant of the risks & taken advantage of, then the disabled ones discarded? That would be another matter, if so.

Richard.

 

[Thalassamania]

Tropical has no claws. Anyway ... I don't know about in Canada, but in the USA food items' country of origin must be identified.

If these people are undergoing hazardous conditions to get lobsters to sell, I take it they may not have better opportunities. If we don't eat lobsters, they may be stuck with something even worse.

It's like the alleged sweat shop situation in China & some other countries; I assume for people working in them, that's the best they can currently do, and if you took their sweat shop away, they'd be even worse off.

Sad and sick as it sounds, sometimes the thing worse than having a sweat shop job is not having a sweat shop job.

Do these lobster divers have better opportunities doing something else? If so, are they just kept ignorant of the risks & taken advantage of, then the disabled ones discarded? That would be another matter, if so.

Richard.

To begin to grasp the problem read the article I linked to above. It is not a question of a better life through lobster.