A complaint over a crayfish being cooked alive on national TV has been dismissed, but the argument over whether it was humane is still simmering.
The complaint was lodged with the Broadcasting Standards Authority after a contestant on Masterchef New Zealand, Karyn Fisk, killed live crayfish by plunging them into boiling water during an episode that was shown on TV1 in March.
The next night, Close Up featured a debate over the best way to kill a crayfish. It showed a chef putting one that had been frozen and put to sleep beforehand in to boiling water.
A viewer complained about both shows, saying boiling the animals alive was "inhumane" and violent.
The BSA did not uphold the complaint, saying "we are of the view that such actions are a common method of cooking crayfish in New Zealand".
Wellington chef Martin Bosley said he understood why the BSA made its decision but did not necessarily think it was right.
"They are accepting a New Zealand behaviour ... but that [behaviour] has to change.
"We've got this gung-ho thing about putting crays into boiling water. You plunge a live cray into a pot of boiling water, it flaps and kicks – as would you."
Mr Bosley recalled, as a trainee chef in the 1980s, being ordered to kill crays by twisting them and pulling them in half – which gave him nightmares.
Though it used to be acceptable among chefs to boil crayfish alive, or drown them, that had changed in the past few decades.
He described crays as "remarkably resilient animals" that could rouse again after being in a freezer for hours.
The best way to kill them quickly was to refrigerate them, then plunge a knife into the brain, Mr Bosley said.
"I've done pretty much every method. [Using a knife] is the most humane and it's the easiest ... it should only take 15 or 20 seconds."
SPCA spokesman Bob Kerridge said boiling crayfish alive was unacceptable.
The BSA ruling also said a judge on the Masterchef episode had criticised Ms Fisk and explained the correct way to prepare crayfish.
The killing on Close Up "was humane, educational, and enabled a discussion about the proper practice to take place".
