The roof isn't even on Portland's new Whole Foods Market and the natural-foods grocery chain already has people up in arms, er, claws.

The grocer has decided to stop selling live lobsters in its stores - including in Maine. The reason behind the decision, according to the chain, is that lobsters suffer too much from trap to tank to table. They'll instead sell frozen lobsters that have been killed in the field by a high-pressure blast of water.

Reactions to the Portland Press Herald story on MaineToday.com were, like the water a lobster is boiled in, anything but tepid. To sum up the majority of the comments in two words:

Oh, puh-leaaase.

A lot of you thought the move was more publicity stunt than ethical stance. How, after all, could the chain justify selling any meat at all if they were really concerned about the welfare of animals? A user named A pointed out the conflict:

"I wonder what's next for Whole Foods? Can you humanely slaughter a cow? Do you wait for it to die of old age? Do they stop selling meat altogether? After all, if you're going to claim principle over profit, there's really no doing it by halves. Right now they just look a bit silly...Makes me glad I don't eat meat."

A few of you saw the decision as an outsider's misstep - and one that might hurt the company. Robinson Cho was one, saying, "These out-of-state losers obviously do not understand what it means to be part of the Maine business community. I am going to buy WFMI (Whole Foods' stock symbol) put options because any management team that makes such a monumental screw-up must have more beautiful mistakes coming in the future." (For those interested in taking such a gamble, shares of WFMI are at $61.18 as of this writing.)

Is Whole Foods making a mistake that's bound to doom it - or a shrewd business decision that will satisfy its base and help the bottom line? Jim thought the company saw dollar signs instead of suffering lobsters:

"Live inventory such as lobster and crab have huge shelf life issues. Dead lobster or crabs are not more than garbage, and smelly garbage at that. If you are an executive for Whole Foods and can eliminate one of your biggest spoilage problems, while catering to one of your bigger customer bases would you do it?"

Sure, the "bird and bunny club," as Jim referred to such supporters of feel-good measures like the one Whole Foods is taking, might back the decision overall. But will the sentiment wash in Maine, where lobster is so closely tied to the economy and state identity? Judging from the responses of some people, it's going to be a tougher sell here than, say, Texas - even among those who can't stand the thought of a live lobster thrashing around in a pot of water.

One such user, Deb, was so outraged that she made liberal use of the caps lock key and exclamation points:

"Mainers love their lobsters LIVE!!!! EVERYONE loves their lobsters LIVE!! It's an American and Maine tradition that should be upheld!!! I still will NOT eat lobster but believe in others' right to."

Live and let live. Eat (or don't) and let eat. Sort of squares with a lot of Mainers' libertarian philosophy, doesn't it?

Speaking of political philosophies, a few of you got some political jabs in with your comments. (Online lesson No. 1: Comments will always turn political, whether the story is about taxes or earthworms.)

C. Elden, clearly not a fan of Whole Foods' touchy-feely stance, posted a bumper sticker sentiment: "Send Whole Foods and GW back to Texas."

Another user, Chris, thought the outrage directed at Whole Foods' was proof that people will seize any opportunity to disparage Texas: " you liberals hate TX don't you, even when they give you a nice hippie-like supermarket, no wonder Maine struggles."

If you feel like you just walked onto the set of "Hardball with Chris Matthews," you're not alone.

Among the outraged was a voice of reason, b, who injected a big fat dose of "calm down" into the debate:

"Oh no!!! They aren't going to sell lobster??!!! Where in the state of Maine am I going to find some lobster if Whole Foods doesn't sell any?! Oh that's right, anywhere. It's Maine...we're kind of known to have lobster just about anywhere. Big deal."

Truer words were never written.

For those of you who would really like to see live lobsters at Whole Foods, there is a glimmer of hope. A spokesperson for the chain said it will reconsider the decision "if they see evidence that it's possible to ensure lobsters and crabs are treated humanely throughout the supply chain."

So, have you hugged a lobster today?