April 1, 2026 — A commercial lobsterman has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against 24/7 GPS monitoring of the Maine lobster fleet, arguing that the unmitigated surveillance is a violations of his rights.
In 2023, Maine regulators began requiring all commercial lobstermen to install GPS monitoring devices on their vessels, enabling 24/7 tracking as called for by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The devices send minute-by-minute location data to the state at all times, even when the vessels are docked.