E.U. Mulls Ban On Live American Lobsters

American lobsters have been showing up off the coast of Sweden in recent years, and they aren't vacationing. Live U.S. lobsters brought over to Sweden for food sometimes get into the wild, and that can cause potential problems for the native species of lobster, so now Sweden has proposed a Europe-wide ban on imports of live lobsters from the U.S. to protect the local crustaceans.

According to The Local, more than 30 American lobsters have been discovered off the coast of Sweden in recent years. American lobsters are bigger and tougher than European lobsters, Sweden expressed worry that genetic problems could materialize if the two lobster varieties started breeding.

"American lobster can carry diseases and parasites that can spread to the European lobster and cause extremely high mortality," Environment Minister Asa Romson said in a statement.

To protect the European lobsters, Sweden has officially proposed that the American lobster be added to the E.U.'s list of invasive alien species. If the E.U. goes along with the proposal, that would mean that it would be illegal to import live American lobsters into the E.U.