Are octopuses and crabs intelligent?

The UK Parliament is considering a bill that expands the law on the protection of sentient beings to include crustaceans and cephalopods. Earlier this year, such a law began to apply to all vertebrate creatures that were recognized as intelligent enough to feel pain and suffering. This does not mean that they will no longer be killed and eaten, but the methods of killing will have to be reconsidered.

Most of the living beings on the planet have an extremely primitive nervous system and act only on reflexes, and therefore the concept of suffering is unknown to them. On the contrary, beings with developed brain activity can experience stress even without pain, for example, from the horror of imminent death. This is wrong, British scientists from the London School of Economics and Political Science decided and launched a series of studies to scientifically prove which animal is intelligent and worthy of protection.

In the issue of cephalopods and crustaceans, there were about 300 studies, they were evaluated according to 8 criteria of reasonableness, and the results vary greatly. Octopuses scored seven out of eight positive ratings and were deemed intelligent, but nautiloids, molluscs in shells, received only one rating and were denied intelligence. In total, octopuses, cuttlefish, squid, crayfish, lobsters and crabs are recognized as reasonable.

The law does not restrict human activities in relation to these creatures, it is rather the basis for future acts. They will be caught and eaten as before, but serious catering establishments will have to think about modernizing the kitchen. Cooking crayfish in the old way, throwing them alive into boiling water, will become impossible. First, you need to stun the creature with an electric shock or kill it by freezing. And many of the techniques of Asian cuisine in relation to seafood, in general, will be outlawed.