An animal rights activist who removed a live lobster from a high-end seafood restaurant and released it into a harbour has been banned from approaching the establishment. Marine biologist Emma Smart, 47, entered Catch at the Old Fish Market in Weymouth, Dorset, as guests were leaving, took the crustacean from a tank, and despite staff intervention, released it into the nearby harbour. The lobster's survival remains unknown.
The restaurant, which features in the Michelin Guide and has hosted Sir David Attenborough, owned the lobster for two-and-a-half years. It was kept for educational purposes for visiting children, not for sale. Smart admitted one count of causing criminal damage to a lobster at Bournemouth Crown Court. The Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence on charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal or assault.
Prosecutor Ben Thompson said Smart waited outside the restaurant at 9pm on April 10 last year, entered as guests departed, and made her way to the tank. Staff tried to stop her, but she left and placed the lobster in the harbour. Defending, Kitan Ososami said Smart acted impulsively, driven by her deep care for animals and marine welfare.
Smart, formerly of Weymouth and now living in West Wales, received an eight-month conditional discharge and a three-year restraining order, banning her from within 10 metres of the restaurant or approaching staff or guests. Her Honour Judge Susan Evans told Smart the lobster was not for consumption but education, and her actions were deeply misguided, with the lobster's fate unknown.
This incident follows a 2022 event where Smart attempted to speak to Sir David Attenborough at the same restaurant to urge support for climate activists. She was cleared of failing to comply with a dispersal order. Smart was also jailed for four months in November 2021 for an Insulate Britain protest.
