The US Supreme Court has declined to hear Maine lobster fisherman Frank Thompson’s challenge to mandatory electronic boat tracking. Thompson sued after the state required all lobster fishermen holding federal permits to install GPS devices, arguing that compulsory monitoring constituted an unreasonable search and seizure. Having lost at the appellate level, he petitioned the Supreme Court, which formally rejected his request on 5 October. Pacific Legal Foundation, his legal representative, said approximately 1,200 permit holders could consequently be tracked, while maintaining that the broader dispute over government surveillance and Fourth Amendment protections remained unresolved.
Maine Department of Marine Resources commissioner Carl Wilson welcomed the decision, saying the data would support lobster stock assessments, offshore enforcement and federal management decisions. Environmental organisations also approved. Some advocate closer monitoring because rare North Atlantic right whales are vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear; others stress the need to monitor declining lobster populations. Conservation Law Foundation lawyer Sarah Shahabi argued that timely, accurate tracking information would help regulators manage New England’s lobster population. Maine receives most of the US lobster catch, often worth more than $500 million annually at the docks, and the industry holds an important place in the state’s history and culture.
The refusal was one of two federal court outcomes against lobster fishing interests that month. The Boston-based First US Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled against businesses and trade organisations pursuing a defamation case against California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium. Their lawsuit concerned its Seafood Watch programme placing American and Canadian lobster on a red list advising consumers not to eat them.
