Saving Seafood

How a lobsterman’s privacy fight reached SCOTUS — and could ripple far beyond the water: ‘Ain’t over yet’

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.

Read the full article at Fox News

Researchers at the University of Maine are turning discarded lobster shells into golf tees

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.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Justices decline to take up Maine boat monitor case

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.

Read the full article at The Center Square

US Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to lobster GPS monitoring case

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.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to Maine lobster boat tracking rule

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.

Read the full article at News Center Maine

Maine lobsterman takes GPS tracker fight to Supreme Court, calls it ‘government surveillance’

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.

Read the full article at The Cool Down

MAINE: Restaurants, DTC suppliers highlight Maine lobster during Maine Lobster Week

September 25, 2026 — Numerous seafood purveyors and restaurants have rolled out unique deals during Maine Lobster Week, which runs this year from 19 to 26 September.

Organized by the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC) in Portland, Maine, U.S.A., the annual Maine Lobster Week celebration invites Mainers and visitors to the Northeastern state to enjoy “one of [Maine’s] most iconic foods while recognizing the harvesters, dealers, processors, restaurants, and working waterfront communities that bring Maine lobster from trap to table,” MLMC said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MAINE: Maine senators ask committee to advance lobster regulation moratorium extension

September 21, 2026 — U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) and U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) wrote a joint letter to the heads of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee asking them to take action on the Northeast Lobstermen Protection Act, legislation introduced by U.S. Representative Jared Golden (D-Maine).

If passed, the legislation would extend a moratorium on new regulations of the lobster industry related to North Atlantic right whale regulations through 2035.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Maine lobsterman takes fight against boat trackers to Supreme Court

September 21, 2026 — A Maine lobsterman is taking his fight against lobster and crab fishing boat trackers to the Supreme Court in a case that could have implications for the state’s fishing industry.

Frank Thompson, a fifth-generation lobsterman from near Vinalhaven, Maine, filed a federal lawsuit Carl Wilson, the commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, in 2023 over a Maine law complying with a federal mandate that requires lobstermen to install and continuously operate GPS trackers on their ships to keep their license.

A district court dismissed his case in 2023, as did an appeals court in 2025. He has now appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which is set to take it up on Sept. 28.

Council Addresses Executive Order and NOAA Directives through 2027 Work Priorities

September 21, 2026 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

During its September 2026 Council Meeting the New England Fishery Management Council addressed multiple management priorities that were identified by NOAA in a July 2, 2026 letter regarding Executive Order 14276, “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness”. Updates and Council next steps on each item are outlined below. The Council will send an official response to NOAA by September 30, 2026.

IMPLEMENT ROTATIONAL ACCESS FOR THE NORTHERN EDGE SCALLOP FISHERY

The Council committed to considering scallop fishery access to the Northern Edge during the 2027 priority setting process at the December 2026 meeting. NOAA had requested the Council establish a controlled, rotational limited-access scallop fishery within the Northern Edge Habitat Areas of Particular Concern. This will allow time to evaluate the request alongside all potential 2027 priorities. The Council considered four potential management options to open the area to scalloping including a holistic habitat management review; a dedicated habitat action; a scallop action that builds on previous analyses and alternatives; or not including this work as 2027 priorities which could lead to a Secretarial Action. The Northern Edge is currently designated a Habitat Management Area, which closes it to dragging gear to minimize impacts on essential fish habitat for Atlantic cod, American lobster, Atlantic herring, among other species.

IMPLEMENT SCALLOP PERMIT STACKING

NOAA tasked the Council with pursuing an action on scallop permit stacking but due to capacity constraints, the Council will not include this issue as a 2027 priority, deferring to NOAA and a potential Secretarial Action. While the Council does not have a position on stacking permits, it last took up the issue of consolidation at the September 2022 meeting when it opted not to develop an action to allow leasing in the Limited Access component of the fishery following a scoping process. At the time, the Council cited concerns about job losses and other negative economic impacts on waterfront communities as reasons for not developing an action. The July 2026 NOAA letter also cited these associated risks of stacking including “foreign ownership, job reductions, and erosion of our critical working waterfronts.” Proponents of stacking cite the economic relief of reduced operational costs, reduced congestion in ports and while fishing, and the ability to fish two allocations on their safest and best vessel.