i live in the fishing port of galilee in ri, and have held my commercial licenses and permits for around 20 years - we love it when people ask if the live lobsters hanging off the pier in the keeper car are fresh!!
ps --- when lobsters die in the tank, whether on the boat or in the store 9 out of 10 times they are broken in half and given a wiff - if there is no smell (freshly dead) they go into a pot right away and become lobsta meat!
also this might be helpful for some of you - when you buy live lobsters bring them home on ice in a cooler and then place them in the crisper of your refrigerator (no ice needed) - they will actually stay for days like this as long as they are kept cool - just do not let the ice melt in a cooler and have them be submerged in the water, this will kill them fast - a very close family member once asked me for some lobsters so that she could entertain some friends - i gave her 10 packed in a cooler over ice for the evenings festivity, she felt bad for them so she placed them in a tub of water --- oops