UPDATE (July 28): The Maine Lobster Festival issued a statement in response to the lawsuit filed by PETA in Knox County Superior Court July 24.

Official Response from the Maine Lobster Festival / Rockland Festival Corporation:

The Maine Lobster Festival has proudly celebrated the Maine lobster industry for 78 years. It is a cornerstone of our community and honors the hardworking men and women who make Maine lobster the gold standard worldwide for quality, sustainability, and heritage.

We are aware of the lawsuit filed by PETA and take any public concern seriously. However, the methods we use to prepare lobster at the festival follow widely accepted and legal culinary practices that have been in place in homes, restaurants, and seafood festivals across the globe for generations.

On the topic of sentience and scientific research:
While we appreciate PETA's concerns, there is no conclusive scientific consensus that lobsters feel pain in a way comparable to mammals. They do not have a brain capable of processing pain. While recent studies suggest the potential for sentience, the research is not conclusive, and regulatory bodies—including the State of Maine—have not classified lobsters in the same category as animals protected under current animal cruelty statutes.

To date, Maine’s laws do not prohibit the traditional preparation of lobster, and the state has not recognized boiling or steaming lobsters as a violation of its animal welfare laws.

The Maine Lobster Festival's practices are in full compliance with all applicable state and federal laws and food safety regulations. Moreover, we work closely with local and state authorities, including public health and safety officials, to ensure all aspects of the event—including cooking methods—meet legal and ethical standards.

Why we steam lobsters at the festival:
Steaming is a time-honored and widely accepted cooking method used across New England and around the world. It is considered efficient, food-safe, and appropriate for large-scale events like ours. Pre-killing lobsters using electric-shock stunners or alternative methods is not feasible at the scale required to serve tens of thousands of guests, nor is it a common industry practice in Maine or nationally.

On PETA’s claims regarding harm to local residents:
To our knowledge, we have not received any complaints from local residents about this issue. In fact, we have thousands of visitors including locals each day that have a wonderful time. 

As for Rockland Harbor Park being a public space, the festival is a permitted, regulated event that takes place with city approval—just as other public events do. No one is required to view or participate in the lobster cooking process, there are plenty of other sites to see at our event.

Looking ahead:
We remain committed to honoring Maine’s lobster industry respectfully, legally, and transparently. We will continue to monitor evolving research and public dialogue on this topic. At the same time, we will defend the right of our community to celebrate our working waterfront and its traditions, which are vital to Maine’s economy and identity.

We are confident that the courts will ultimately agree that our event complies with state law and honors Maine’s longstanding culture in a responsible and community-minded way.

For more information about the festival and its mission, please visit mainelobsterfestival.com.

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ROCKLAND - The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a lawsuit July 24 in Knox County Superior Court against the Maine Lobster Festival and the City of Rockland claiming that the steaming of live lobsters is a violation of Maine law prohibiting the torture and torment of animals.

PETA seeks declaratory and injunctive relief which is defined as a court order or prohibition against certain actions.

In their lawsuit, PETA “brings this action under Maine law to halt one of the most egregious violations of Maine's animal protection statutes occurring anywhere on public land in the state: the systematic torture of approximately 16,000 live, sentient animals at the Maine Lobster Festival held annually at Harbor Park in Rockland, Maine.”

The attorneys further argue that PETA filed the suit on behalf of its members, including Rockland residents who are functionally excluded from Harbor Park, harbor walkways, public kayaking and canoeing facilities, intertidal lands, and related civic spaces during the Festival.

"These individuals cannot access public trust resources without encountering and accepting intolerable conditions: the illegal public torture and killing of thousands of individual sentient lobsters via live steaming." 

PETA contends that because lobsters are sentient beings, they are able to perceive or feel things and therefore entitled to protection under Maine law, which requires that any method used to kill a sentient creature must cause instantaneous death. They claim in the suit that lobsters remain neurologically active and sensible to pain and suffer for several minutes during live steaming.

The annual Festival held on the Rockland waterfront begins Wednesday, July 30, and continues through Sunday, Aug. 3.

A hearing has not yet been scheduled for PETA’s request for an injunction to stop the steaming of lobsters. 

The Maine Lobster Festival did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

PETA, founded in 1980, has more than 10.4 million members and supporters of its organizational mission globally with its headquarters located in Norfolk, Virginia. 

PETA is represented by Attorney Eric V. Skelly of Dinsmore and Shohl, Boston, Massachusetts, and Attorneys Asher Smith and Raquel Panza of the PETA Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Reach Sarah Shepherd at news@penbaypilot.com