October 16, 2026 — A new study from the University of Maine shows a big drop in baby lobsters, providing an early indicator of a decline in adult lobsters.
According to researchers, baby lobsters sampled from 2010-2022 declined by 80 percent.
This was followed by a 70% decline in young lobsters since 2015, then a 50% decline in adults big enough to catch.
October 15, 2026 — The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a lobster fisherman who alleged the government requiring commercial fishing boats to use electronic tracking devices amounts to unreasonable search and seizure.
Maine lobster fisherman Frank Thompson sued after his state began requiring all federally permitted lobstermen to install GPS trackers on their boats to collect data that will help manage the industry. Thompson appealed to the high court after losing at the appeals court level.
The Supreme Court formally denied Thompson’s petition on Oct. 5. The decision allows the state to collect “critically important” data, said Carl Wilson, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
October 13, 2026 — A U.S. Appeals Court has ruled against the Maine lobster industry in a lawsuit it brought against the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation (MBAF).
A coalition of Maine lobstermen, including Bean Maine Lobster Inc., the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, Atwood Lobster LLC, and Bug Catcher Inc., had won a lawsuit against the MBAF over its decision to give the fishery a “red” rating in its seafood watch list. The aquarium foundation appealed that lawsuit, and now the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision, remanding it with instructions to dismiss the complaint entirely.
October 12, 2026 — A federal appeals court has sided with the California-based Monterey Bay Aquarium, which faced a defamation lawsuit from Maine lobstermen and groups representing the state’s industry.
The lobstermen sued three years ago, after the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program stripped the U.S. and Canadian lobster fisheries of their sustainability certifications and urged consumers not to buy lobster.
The aquarium said the fishery poses a threat to the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.
October 12, 2026 — One Maine lobsterman isn’t ready to give up after the Supreme Court declined to hear his challenge to a GPS vessel-tracking requirement Monday, fearing it threatens a way of life passed down for generations and could ripple across other industries.
For decades, fifth-generation lobsterman Frank Thompson has driven his boat from Vinalhaven, a small island off the Maine coast, into deeper waters to set traps and haul in lobsters. Now, he says a GPS tracking mandate has turned his boat into a government-issued 24/7 “ankle bracelet,” sparking a years-long legal battle over constant surveillance and Fourth Amendment rights.
“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.”
Thompson, who also owns Fox Island Lobster Company with his wife and two sons, was out fishing earlier this month when one of his sons texted him, letting him know the Supreme Court had declined his petition to hear the case and left in place a First Circuit ruling that said the GPS tracking requirement did not violate the Fourth Amendment because lobstering is a closely regulated industry.
“I just told myself, I said, ‘Well, it ain’t over yet,’” he said.
The mandate, requiring a small electronic box to be installed aboard federally licensed lobster boats in Maine, has flipped Thompson’s life upside down, he said.
October 12, 2026 — Researchers at the University of Maine (UMaine) are working on a project to turn discarded lobster shells into golf tees, using ground-up shell particles from Richmond, Maine, U.S.A.-based lobster-processing company Shucks Maine Lobster.
UMaine Professor of Chemical Engineering David Neivandt leads the project, working with a team of student researchers and faculty. According to a university release, the project is part of a decades-long study into turning underutilized byproducts from Maine’s lobster industry into new products that also promote sustainability.
October 7, 2026 — The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a lawsuit challenging a Maine rule requiring commercial lobstermen to use electronic vessel tracking systems.
In an unwritten decision, the high court denied lobsterman Frank Thompson’s petition for a writ of certiorari to consider a case against the Maine Department of Marine Resources, claiming that GPS monitoring of private boats violates Fourth Amendment protections. The decision effectively ends the long-running legal fight, upholding a previous federal appeals court ruling rejecting the lawsuit.
Thompson, who was represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, had claimed the 24/7 surveillance unfairly targets Maine’s federally licensed lobster fleet.
October 6, 2026 — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case that argued against 24/7 GPS monitoring of the Maine’s lobster fishing fleet.
In 2023, Maine began requiring commercial lobstermen in the state to install GPS monitoring devices that would enable 24/7 tracking of the vessels – a move called for by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Soon after, lobstermen sued, calling it a violation of both the fourth and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
October 6, 2026 — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case challenging Maine’s requirement that certain commercial lobstermen use electronic vessel tracking devices, leaving in place a lower court ruling that upheld the program.
The case was brought by Frank Thompson, a Maine lobsterman who argued the state’s tracking requirement violates the Fourth Amendment by forcing fishermen to submit to continuous GPS monitoring as a condition of keeping their fishing licenses.
September 28, 2026 — A Supreme Court case over lobster boats in Maine could affect far more than one fisherman’s daily routine.
The dispute asks whether Maine can require federally permitted lobster and Jonah crab boats to keep GPS trackers running at all times, including when they are not being used for commercial fishing.
For working waterfront families, the case has become a clash between privacy and property rights on one side and fishery oversight on the other in an industry that helps sustain communities across coastal Maine.