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 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.
September 16, 2026 — For commercial fishermen accustomed to vessel monitoring, observers and other data requirements, a Maine lobsterman’s case headed to the U.S. Supreme Court raises a more fundamental question: How far can government monitoring follow a fisherman when he isn’t fishing?
The Supreme Court is scheduled to consider Frank Thompson’s petition Sept. 28 in a challenge to electronic tracking requirements for federally permitted lobster vessels.
Thompson, a fifth-generation lobsterman from Vinalhaven, Maine, argues that requiring a GPS tracking device aboard his privately owned vessel amounts to an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment. His challenge focuses particularly on the requirement that the vessel continue transmitting its location while underway, including when it is being used for something other than lobstering.
“The petition asks whether Maine can force lobstermen to carry government GPS trackers on their private boats, even when they are off the job,” Matt Gilliam, Thompson’s lead attorney, told ABC News. “We are hopeful that the court will grant review and address this important Fourth Amendment question.”
The tracking requirement went into effect in 2023 for federally permitted American lobster vessels from Maine to Virginia. The devices transmit a vessel’s location every minute while it is at sea.
For some Maine fishermen, however, a fishing boat is not used exclusively for fishing.
September 16, 2026 — A longtime Maine lobsterman is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his challenge to a requirement that federally permitted lobster boats carry electronic tracking devices.
Frank Thompson argues that the tracking requirement violates the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches.
The Supreme Court has distributed the petition for its Sept. 28 conference, where the justices are expected to consider whether to take up the case. The conference is not an oral argument, and the court has not agreed to hear the case.
Thompson, a fifth-generation lobsterman from Vinalhaven, argues that the tracking requirement goes too far because the device remains on his private boat even when he’s not lobstering.
Maine requires state license holders who also hold certain federal lobster permits to have an electronic tracker on their boats while operating. The device records the time and location of the vessel once per minute while its moving and every six hours while it is tied up, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
Maine DMR says that the data are intended to provide more detailed information about fishing activity and stock assessments that can help with fisheries management and protected species issues.
September 14, 2026 — The Supreme Court will decide later this month whether to hear a lobster fisherman’s challenge to a government requirement that boats use electronic tracking devices. That case could have broad consequences for the American commercial fishing industry.
Maine lobsterman Frank Thompson filed a federal lawsuit against the head of his state’s marine resources department over a requirement that he install a GPS tracker on his boat to keep his fishing license.
In 2023, the state, where lobster fishing is a critical and historic industry, required all federally permitted lobstermen to do so to comply with a new U.S. rule aimed at data collection.
Thompson asserted that the monitoring constituted unreasonable search and seizure, but a federal appeals court denied his claim last year. He appealed to the Supreme Court, which is set to review the claim on Sept. 28.