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.
uncertain
it → give → 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.
asserted
Thompson → drive → 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.
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mandate → say → surveillance
"This is totally against the Fourth Amendment, and somebody's got to hear it one way or another," Thompson told Fox News Digital.
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Thompson → get → Digital
"This black box that they're putting aboard the boat is not legal, in my mind, and I'm not a criminal."
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I → put → mind
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.
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he → own → myself
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.
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he → require → life
According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources (Maine DMR), the devices collect a boat’s location once per minute while moving and every six hours while docked.
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devices → accord → minute
The tracking doesn’t stop there, Thompson said, with the device collecting data even during personal trips, a key concern in his case.
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device → stop → case
Whether Thompson is traveling back to the mainland or having a family picnic, he said the device gives him "a creepy feeling" about who has his information and who is possibly watching.
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who → travel → information
"Freedom is gone.
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Freedom → go → ?
What else can they do to us?" he said.
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he → do → us
Thompson said there is even more at stake.
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Thompson → say → stake
He described how his first boat ride happened two days after he was born and how his sons and grandchildren are following in his footsteps today.
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sons → describe → footsteps
"Fishing's been in my blood and I always want to be on the water and it's something that I couldn't explain to you the feeling that you get out fishing and stuff," he said.
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he → want → feeling
Thompson equated the feeling of pulling up the line of a trap and catching dozens of lobsters to "opening a present at Christmas time."
"This is what I like," he said.
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he → equate → what
Matthew Gilliam, Thompson’s attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, said lobstermen must carry the trackers "as a condition of earning a living and keeping their lobster license," arguing the mandate infringes on Fourth Amendment rights "because it was warrantless."
"That forced trespass was a violation of the Fourth Amendment because it's an unreasonable search and seizure," he said.
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he → say → Amendment
Maine DMR implemented the rule in 2023 at the direction of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
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DMR → implement → Commission
State officials and conservationists have since backed the mandate as necessary to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, monitor lobster populations and sustain the industry for years to come.
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officials → back → years
"They're bringing it up because it's for the whales," Thompson said.
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Thompson → bring → whales
"Well, the government's lying through their teeth like they always do, and I'm not a criminal."
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I → lie → teeth
Shortly after the mandate took effect, a federal lawsuit was filed by Thompson and four fellow lobstermen, claiming the device subjected them to tracking they never consented to.
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they → take → tracking
A federal judge dismissed the case, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld that decision, finding the tracking requirement did not violate the Fourth Amendment under an exception for closely regulated industries.
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requirement → dismiss → industries
Thompson said the privacy concerns extend beyond fisheries, with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), which represents farmers and ranchers, standing behind his Supreme Court appeal.
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which → say → appeal
The group filed an amicus brief arguing the lower court’s reasoning could weaken Fourth Amendment protections for farmers, ranchers and others in regulated industries.
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reasoning → file → industries
"Everybody's got cell phones, they can track us if they want to," Thompson said.
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Thompson → get → us
"But put a black box on a tractor, seeing how many days that he's out in the field or whatever, it's just, the independence is gone."
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independence → put → field
Although the AFBF supported Thompson’s challenge, the Conservation Law Foundation, which filed a separate brief in favor of the tracking requirement during the First Circuit appeal, praised Monday’s decision.
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which → support → decision
"This decision is a valuable step toward appropriately managing this iconic species," CLF Associate Attorney Sarah Shahabi said in a press release.
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Shahabi → manage → release
Fox News Digital reached out to CLF for comment but did not hear back before publication.
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Digital → reach → publication
Maine DMR also responded to the decision, maintaining its support for the tracking requirement in a statement on Monday.
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DMR → respond → Monday
"DMR continues to believe this data collection requirement is critically important to the long-term sustainability of the lobster fishery and resource," Maine DMR Commissioner Carl Wilson wrote.
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Wilson → continue → fishery
Gilliam said that despite the Supreme Court declining to hear the case, lobstermen and others in regulated industries should not lose their privacy rights simply for doing their jobs.
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lobstermen → say → jobs
"Lobstermen and others have Fourth Amendment protections and we'll continue fighting against government overreach," he said.
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he → have → overreach
Thompson said he still wants answers about why the government is treating lobstermen like they have done something wrong.
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they → say → something
"We're just out there making a living and we're taking good care of the resource," Thompson said.
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Thompson → make → resource
"You can't believe the steps that we've done to take care of it and we don't get credit for nothing."
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we → believe → nothing
He warned that if government regulations continue to be adopted across different fisheries, it could "ruin us."
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it → warn → us
"People just don't think before they react to it," he said.
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he → think → it
"All these rules and regulations and it's taking away a lifestyle of generations of freedom."
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it → take → freedom
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
