Humane method to kill gorilla crabs?

[Gil03]

The trouble with this logic is that it allows for some very dangerous mental math. If it's inhumane to keep fish in a glass box, why then do we need to provide tangs with lots of swimming space? Keeping them at all is inhumane right? How then is keeping three tangs in a 240g more humane than keeping three tangs in a 29g? They're both inhumane.. by your logic, the 240g is just a bit less inhumane than the 29g.

It's also important to note that marine ornamental fish are not humans or primates. To understand that they are in a glass box and not in the ocean (to be sad or "shells" as you put it), they would have to have self-awareness. Self-awareness is a psychological characteristic almost exclusive to higher-order primates. I don't mean to say that we can treat fish poorly because they don't know any better: every possible effort should be taken to provide fish with accommodations similar to that which they would find in the wild. I just think it's naive to assume that fish have the same awareness and perception that we do.

While no industry is perfect, especially if it deals with live animals, I think it's really a stretch to assert that most marine animals in this hobby are mistreated. If that is truly your opinion, you are doing all those animals a disservice and are participating in their mistreatment by continuing to practice this hobby. I am on these forums because while I do believe this hobby is imperfect, I don't believe the problem is inherent to the nature of marine aquarium keeping, and I do believe animal health and well-being can be improved. I do not participate in things that I believe are inherently inhumane if I can avoid them.

Sorry to threadjack @ThunderGoose I would probably try to give them to a LFS or fellow reefer. If that's not an option, hammer or freeze would be best.

To assert that you or any other human can understand the level of self awareness or the perception of reality of another species in this case marine life is news to me. To claim that you know a fish for example doesn't know the difference between a man made glass box and its natural marine habitat is just something I can't get behind and at best is just a guessing game. The tang issue again is something that we can only guess based on observation and it's natural environment that more space is better but that's just a general idea and in no way gives us the ability to understand what a fish "Thinks".

Maybe someone that used to be a fish can clarify more for us lol.

 

[ChiCity]

I think you're in the wrong hobby if "Humane" is a paramount interest of yours lol.

I categorically disagree. There's nothing about reef aquarium keeping that's inherently inhumane. Animals can actually live much longer in captivity than they can in the wild due to improved care and lack of predation. Sure, people can intentionally or unintentionally do things that are not conducive to animal health, but that's a separate issue. On a whole, I believe that reefers see their fish and corals as their pets and treat them as a member of their family. If you do your best to provide a reasonable facsimile of the animal's natural habitat, I wouldn't call that inhumane at all.

The trouble with this logic is that it allows for some very dangerous mental math. If it's inhumane to keep fish in a glass box, why then do we need to provide tangs with lots of swimming space? Keeping them at all is inhumane right? How then is keeping three tangs in a 240g more humane than keeping three tangs in a 29g? They're both inhumane.. by your logic, the 240g is just a bit less inhumane than the 29g.

It's also important to note that marine ornamental fish are not humans or primates. To understand that they are in a glass box and not in the ocean (to be sad or "shells" as you put it), they would have to have self-awareness. Self-awareness is a psychological characteristic almost exclusive to higher-order primates. I don't mean to say that we can treat fish poorly because they don't know any better: every possible effort should be taken to provide fish with accommodations similar to that which they would find in the wild. I just think it's naive to assume that fish have the same awareness and perception that we do.

While no industry is perfect, especially if it deals with live animals, I think it's really a stretch to assert that most marine animals in this hobby are mistreated. If that is truly your opinion, you are doing all those animals a disservice and are participating in their mistreatment by continuing to practice this hobby. I am on these forums because while I do believe this hobby is imperfect, I don't believe the problem is inherent to the nature of marine aquarium keeping, and I do believe animal health and well-being can be improved. I do not participate in things that I believe are inherently inhumane if I can avoid them.

Sorry to threadjack @ThunderGoose I would probably try to give them to a LFS or fellow reefer. If that's not an option, hammer or freeze would be best.

I see your point, but I’m afraid you’re missing the whole capitalism side of things.
These animals are treated like commodity and they’re generally collected with rampant disregard throughout much of the world.
There are solid collectors and distributors out there, do not get me wrong; they’re the few out of many...
Most are unscrupulous with the only endgame for them being profit, not the well being of the animal.
And a vast majority deal in numbers, and out of those massive numbers only a fraction end up alive and well in a proper system down the road...

It’s just the nature of the business.

 

[Webslinger]

A hammer works well.

 

[sfin52]

I got to go to the local Walmart and throw it up in the air for all the ringbilled gulls. Maybe you’ll hear them say mine mine mine.

 

[ThunderGoose]

Thanks for all the input. I've decided the best solution is to find someone with a predatory tank. May not be nice to the crabs but at least they'll have had a purpose in life (other than to terrorize other tank/sump inhabitants). And if that doesn't work - I found an interesting site on how to humanely kill crabs and lobsters for human consumption: http://kb.rspca.org.au/What-is-the-...ll-crustaceans-for-human-consumption_625.html. Basically they recommend chilling and then destroying the nerve plexus(es). So, freezing.