SCOTUS to decide this month whether to hear lobsterman's case

The Supreme Court is expected to decide this month whether to hear a lobster fisherman’s challenge to a rule requiring electronic tracking devices on boats, which he says violates his Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

Maine lobsterman Frank Thompson filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in 2024 against the head of his state's marine resources department over a requirement that he install a GPS tracker on his boat to keep his fishing license. The district court ruled against him, deciding that the state of Maine’s GPS requirement did not violate Thompson’s constitutional rights. He appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which also sided with the state of Maine. He then appealed to the Supreme Court, which is set to review the claim on Sept. 28.

What does the GPS rule require? Maine’s Department of Marine Resources requires federally permitted lobstermen who also hold a certain federal lobster and crab commercial trap gear permit to install a GPS tracking device on their vessels as a condition of maintaining their fishing licenses. The device transmits the boat's location continuously—including when it is moored, docked, or being used for personal, recreational, or off-season purposes. Thompson argues that this amounts to surveillance that is an unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment.

What does the opposition say? The U.S. lobster industry is based mostly in Maine, but there has been a sharp decline in catches over the past decade. Main’s Department of Marine Resources said that these electronic trackers collect data that is crucial to keeping the industry and fish populations sustainable and healthy.