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A Maine lobster fisherman isn’t ready to give up after the Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear his challenge to a GPS vessel tracking requirement, fearing it would threaten a way of life passed down for generations and could spill over into other industries.
For decades, fifth-generation lobsterman Frank Thompson took his boat from Vinalhaven, a small island off the coast of Maine, to deeper waters to set traps and transport lobsters. Today, he claims a GPS tracking warrant has turned his boat into a 24/7 government-issued “ankle bracelet,” sparking a years-long legal battle over constant surveillance and Fourth Amendment rights.
“It’s completely against the Fourth Amendment, and someone has to hear it one way or another,” Thompson told Fox News Digital. “This black box that they put on the boat is not legal, in my opinion, and I am not a criminal.”
Thompson, who also owns Fox Island Lobster Company with his wife and two sons, was fishing earlier this month when one of his sons texted him, letting him know that the Supreme Court had denied his petition to hear the case and left in place a First Circuit ruling that the GPS tracking requirement did not violate the Fourth Amendment because lobstering is a closely regulated industry.
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Maine lobsterman Frank Thompson told Fox News Digital that a GPS tracking requirement raised privacy concerns about how the government monitored his boat. (Pacific Legal Foundation.)
“I just thought, ‘Well, it’s not over yet,’” he said.
The mandate, requiring a small electronic box to be installed aboard federally licensed lobster boats in Maine, turned Thompson’s life upside down, he said.
According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources (Maine DMR), the devices collect a boat’s location once per minute when it’s moving and every six hours when it’s docked. The tracking doesn’t stop there, Thompson said, with the device collecting data even during personal trips, a major concern in his case.
Whether Thompson is returning to the mainland or having a family picnic, he said the device gives him “a creepy feeling” about who has his information and who can watch it.
“Freedom is gone. What else can they do to us?” he said.
Thompson said there was even more at stake. He described how his first boat ride took place two days after his birth and how his sons and grandchildren today follow in his footsteps.
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On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear Thompson’s challenge to the GPS tracking requirement, leaving the lower court’s decision to stand. (Pacific Legal Foundation.)
“Fishing is in my blood and I always want to be on the water and that’s something I couldn’t explain to you, the feeling you get going out fishing and all that,” he said. “It’s just a way of life.”
Thompson equated the feeling of hauling up a trap line and catching dozens of lobsters to “opening a present at Christmas time.”
“That’s what I like,” he said.
Matthew Gilliam, Thompson’s attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, said lobstermen must wear the trackers “as a condition of earning a living and maintaining their lobster fishing license,” arguing that the mandate infringes on Fourth Amendment rights “because it was without a warrant.”
“This forcible intrusion constituted a violation of the Fourth Amendment because it was an unreasonable search and seizure,” he said.
The Maine DMR implemented the rule in 2023 under the direction of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. State officials and environmental advocates have since supported the mandate, saying it is necessary to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, monitor lobster populations and support the industry for years to come.
“They talk about it because it’s for the whales,” Thompson said. “Well, the government lies like it always does, and I’m not a criminal.”
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Thompson said the tracking device collects data even when he uses his boat for personal trips. (Pacific Legal Foundation.)
Shortly after the mandate took effect, a federal lawsuit was filed by Thompson and four fellow lobstermen, claiming the device subjected them to tracking to which they never consented.
A federal judge threw out the case, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld that ruling, finding that the tracking requirement did not violate the Fourth Amendment under an exception for closely regulated industries.
Thompson said privacy concerns extend beyond fishing, with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), which represents farmers and ranchers, supporting his appeal to the Supreme Court. The group filed an amicus brief arguing that the lower court’s reasoning could weaken Fourth Amendment protections for farmers, ranchers and others working in regulated industries.
“Everyone has a cell phone, they can follow us if they want,” Thompson said. “But putting a black box on a tractor, seeing how many days it spends in the field or whatever, it’s just that the independence is gone.”
Although AFBF supported Thompson’s challenge, the Conservation Law Foundation, which filed a separate brief in support of the tracking requirement in the First Circuit’s appeal, praised Monday’s ruling.
“This decision is a valuable step toward appropriate management of this iconic species,” Sarah Shahabi, associate attorney at CLF, said in a press release. Fox News Digital reached out to CLF for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.
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Thompson has the required GPS tracking device on board his federally licensed lobster boat. (Pacific Legal Foundation)
The Maine DMR also responded to the decision, maintaining its support for the tracking requirement in a statement released Monday.
“The DMR continues to believe that this data collection requirement is critically important to the long-term sustainability of the lobster fishery and resource,” wrote Maine DMR Commissioner Carl Wilson.
Gilliam said that even though the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, lobstermen and others working in regulated industries should not lose their right to privacy simply by doing their jobs.
“Lobstermen and others enjoy the protections of the Fourth Amendment and we will continue to fight government excesses,” he said.
Thompson said he still wants answers about why the government is treating lobstermen like it did something wrong.
“We just make a living and we take good care of the resource,” Thompson said. “You can’t believe the steps we’ve taken to take care of this and we don’t get any credit for anything.”
He warned that if government regulations continued to be adopted in different fisheries it could “ruin us”.
“People don’t think before they react,” he said. “All these rules and regulations are taking away a way of life from generations of freedom.”
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As for what happens next, Thompson said he will continue to work with his attorneys to try to remove the tracking requirement once and for all.
“I’m fighting for everyone, not just me,” Thompson said. “I just fight for everyone’s freedom.”
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