Supreme Court to decide whether to hear Maine lobsterman's challenge to GPS boat tracker requirement - Taylorville Daily News

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide later this month whether to hear a challenge by Maine lobsterman Frank Thompson to a GPS tracking requirement for boats used in the commercial lobster fishery. Thompson sued in federal court after Maine required federally permitted lobstermen in 2023 to install GPS trackers to comply with a new U.S. rule tied to data collection and licensing. He argued the monitoring amounts to unreasonable search and seizure, but a federal appeals court rejected his claim. The Supreme Court is set to review it on Sept. 28. Fishing groups and conservation groups have clashed over monitoring’s impact as lobster catches decline.