In a case with implications for one of Maine’s premier industries, a Vinalhaven-based lobsterman is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out round-the-clock GPS tracking requirements for every federally licensed lobstering vessel.
Fifth-generation lobsterman Frank Thompson argues that the rule, imposed in 2023 by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, amounts to warrantless surveillance that violates his Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
“Lobstermen like Frank are being subjected to the government’s unending, invasive trespass to property and surveillance — and threatened with the loss of their licenses and livelihoods to force compliance,” Mark Miller of the Pacific Legal Foundation, which filed the case on a pro bono basis, said in a statement. The foundation has offices in California, Florida and Washington, D.C.
The rule requires all federally licensed lobster vessels to operate GPS trackers that send location data to the government at least once per minute. The tracker must remain active whenever the vessel is in water, even when it is docked or being used recreationally.
A district court dismissed Frank’s initial lawsuit in 2024, saying the Constitution allows the government to engage in warrantless surveillance within a “closely regulated industry” like lobstering. A federal appeals court upheld that decision last year.
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association, which is not involved in the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
