Lobster Bake Law
Does anyone know what the regulations are for cooking on the beach in Maine - or how well they're enforced? I'd hoping to do a pit barbecue/lobster bake with friends and family and would hate to have it shut down by the Coast Guard... anything about location above/below mean high tide line, etc?
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johnnydj
Oct 28, 2010 12:28 PM
It's less enforced the farther Downeast you go. Private property is not a problem. State and city parks are a fineable offense. If you are doing it in a drum or vessel of some sort (recommended) it's just a barbeque. If you are digging a hole and starting the fire early in the AM you might get away with it this late in the season
›1 Reply-
re: johnnydj
Passadumkeg
Oct 28, 2010 08:55 PM
Downeast along the Mine Island Trail, lobster bakes are allowed on state owned island w/ a fire permit and on private islands w/ the the owneres permission. the wind jammers do it all the time and I do as well as a licensed Registered Maine Guide.
Keg the Deerslayer
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I'm not totally sure but I believe it would be a town to town thing. I've had lobster bakes on Peaks Island (Portland) and had to get approval from the fire department - approval was nothing more than saying you would like to have "a small cooking fire" (apparently that's a key phrase) below the high tide mark (theoretically the tide will take care of any embers, etc.). Thumbs up. No paper work, nothing. So I would check with the local town and definitely use the "small cooking fire" and "below high tide" phraseology. Good luck.
