A day after Whole Foods Market stopped the sale of live lobsters in its stores, local chefs and wholesalers brushed off worries that New England's iconic crustacean would go the way of fur or foie gras.

The upscale natural foods chain said that lobsters are not treated humanely enough en route from the boat to the dinner plate. The company said for now it would only sell frozen lobster products that meet standards for humane treatment.

Chef Jasper White, whose four Summer Shack restaurants sell $4 million to $5 million worth of lobster each year, called the decision ``pure silliness" and a ``PR move" to appease animal-rights activists. Some 10,000 families in New England and maritime Canada depend on lobstering for income, he says, and Whole Foods should be more concerned about them than about an animal that he called ``basically an insect."

``People first, lobsters second," White said. ``Lobsters are for dinner."...