The Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a constitutional challenge to a federal GPS tracking mandate for lobster boats, leaving in place a lower court ruling that the requirement does not violate the Fourth Amendment. The decision ends the latest chapter in a years-long legal fight brought by fifth-generation Maine lobsterman Frank Thompson, who argues the tracking device amounts to constant government surveillance.
Thompson, who fishes out of Vinalhaven, an island off the Maine coast, has been required since 2023 to carry a small electronic box aboard his federally licensed boat. According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the device records a vessel's location once per minute while it is moving and every six hours while docked. Thompson said the tracking does not stop during personal trips, giving him what he called a «creepy feeling» about who might be watching.
«This is totally against the Fourth Amendment, and somebody's got to hear it one way or another,» Thompson told Fox News Digital. «This black box that they're putting aboard the boat is not legal, in my mind, and I'm not a criminal.» He said he learned of the Supreme Court's decision while out fishing, when one of his sons sent him a text message. «I just told myself, I said, 'Well, it ain't over yet,'» he recalled.
The mandate was implemented by Maine DMR at the direction of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. State officials and conservation groups have defended the requirement as necessary to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, monitor lobster populations, and sustain the industry. Thompson rejected that rationale. «They're bringing it up because it's for the whales,» he said. «Well, the government's lying through their teeth like they always do, and I'm not a criminal.»
Shortly after the rule took effect, Thompson and four fellow lobstermen filed a federal lawsuit claiming the device subjected them to tracking they never consented to. A federal judge dismissed the case, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld that decision, finding the tracking requirement did not violate the Fourth Amendment under an exception for closely regulated industries. Thompson's attorney, Matthew Gilliam of the Pacific Legal Foundation, argued that lobstermen must carry the trackers «as a condition of earning a living and keeping their lobster license» and that the mandate infringed on Fourth Amendment rights «because it was warrantless.»
«That forced trespass was a violation of the Fourth Amendment because it's an unreasonable search and seizure,» Gilliam said. The Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case leaves the First Circuit ruling in place, but Gilliam said lobstermen and others in regulated industries should not lose hope. The American Farm Bureau Federation, which represents farmers and ranchers, filed an amicus brief supporting Thompson's appeal, arguing that the lower court's reasoning could weaken Fourth Amendment protections for those in other regulated industries. Thompson echoed that concern, saying that while cell phones can already track people, placing a «black box on a tractor» to monitor how many days a farmer is in the field would mean that «the independence is gone.»
The Conservation Law Foundation, which filed a separate brief in favor of the tracking requirement during the First Circuit appeal, praised Monday's decision. «This decision is a valuable step toward appropriately managing this iconic species,» CLF Associate Attorney Sarah Shahabi said in a press release. Maine DMR Commissioner Carl Wilson also responded to the decision, maintaining support for the requirement. «DMR continues to believe this data collection requirement is critically important to the long-term sustainability of the lobster fishery and resource,» Wilson wrote.
Thompson, who owns Fox Island Lobster Company with his wife and two sons, described fishing as a way of life passed down through generations. His first boat ride came two days after he was born, and he said his sons and grandchildren are following in his footsteps. «Fishing's been in my blood and I always want to be on the water,» he said. «It's just a way of life.» He compared pulling up a trap filled with lobsters to «opening a present at Christmas time.» Despite the Supreme Court's decision, Thompson said he is not ready to give up. «Freedom is gone,» he said. «What else can they do to us?»