Credit: Catch at the Old Fish Market
Activist Who Stole ‘Lobster’ From Restaurant Tank To Save It Accidentally Killed Animal After Throwing It Into Sea
A restaurant has revealed how an animal rights activist killed one of its ‘lobsters,’ after stealing the creature in a bid to set it free.
Marine biologist Emma Smart went to Catch at the Old Fish Market in the coastal town of Weymouth in Dorset, England, in April last year, with the goal to ‘liberate the lobster.’
The 47-year-old was captured on CCTV lingering outside the establishment on April 10, 2025, before storming past a member of staff and heading towards the tank which housed two crustaceans, Ronnie and Reggie.
She was then seen grabbing one of them out the tank, while a waitress grabbed her arm and attempted to pull her away. Smart then threw the creature ‘like a cricket ball,’ into the harbor.
Smart has since claimed she believed the animal was soon to be cooked up and served on customers’ plates, but in actual fact, it had been kept as a pet by restaurant owners for educational visits from children and had been in the tank for two years.
It was also later revealed that the crustacean was not a lobster, and was actually a crayfish.
Activist claims it was ‘act of kindness’
Posting on social media after the event, Smart claimed she had been the victim of a ‘witch hunt,’ and insisted she was carrying out an ‘act of kindness’ when she attempted to free the crayfish, later throwing it straight into the sea.
Smart described the legal case against her as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘trumped up,’ writing: “They call it ‘criminal damage.’ I call it a crustacean jailbreak,” as per The Sun.
She continued: “This actually felt good at the time. A small, spontaneous, act of kindness – a tiny necessary win against a system that is literally driving our oceans, our planet (and ultimately humanity) to collapse in the midst of climate breakdown and a biodiversity crisis.
“On the night I liberated that single miserable lobster I was at a dark low point- navigating a mental health crisis.
“What followed was a truly bizarre ‘witch-hunt’ – a weird, ego-driven vendetta enabled by a system that is, naturally, designed to protect the delicate feelings of old, white, wealthy, influential men.
“I’ve actually started to feel quite sorry for the Catch at The Old Fish Market restaurateur.
“It must be such a terrifyingly small, exhausting world to live in when a single act of mercy makes your blood boil faster than your bisque.
“Obviously, it’s not like this is a micro-example of a global epidemic where influential men weaponise the police, courts, mainstream media (even their own young, female staff) to protect their fragile egos.
“I suppose in his world, the ‘real’ criminal damage isn’t a business model that relies on systematically removing marine wildlife from a dying ocean to kill, cook, and profit from it- it’s the moment someone dares to give one of them their life back.”
Emma Smart guilty of criminal damage
However, authorities didn’t view her behavior in the same light, and her apartment was later raided by local police officers after the owner of the restaurant, Sean Cooper, reported her for theft.
The mom-of-two was banned from going within 10 meters of the restaurant again, or approaching any staff or diner attending Catch, after pleading guilty to criminal damage at Bournemouth Crown Court in April.
This isn’t the first time Smart has appeared in court for an incident related to Catch. Back in 2022, she tried to attempted to reach Sir David Attenborough, who was attending the restaurant.
She barged her way over and urged the veteran broadcaster to support climate activists in prison, before refusing to leave when asked to by staff.
Smart ended up being dragged out by police officers but continued to shout once outside the restaurant.
‘Lobster liberation’ leads to devastation
Despite claiming her actions were done out of kindness, restaurant owner Cooper has since revealed the devastating news that the crayfish likely died instantly, as a result of the sudden change in water temperature.
Even more heartbreaking is the fact that the remaining crayfish also died due to ‘loneliness’ after losing its tankmate.
Speaking on BBC Radio Solent’s Dorset Breakfast Show, Cooper described Smart’s actions as a ‘travesty’ and ‘distressing,’ adding: “That animal will have died the second it hit the harbour water.”
He also suggested that Smart’s anger towards the fishing industry in Weymouth is ‘misguided,’ given that ‘Weymouth’s fishing fleet is recognised globally for the way it operates.’
Cooper said: “The whole reason for the restaurant is to celebrate that fishing community in Weymouth.
“This is everything we exist for, therefore, to be targeted by somebody who is ignorant and misguided around what we are doing is particularly upsetting.”
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