A federal judge has ruled against a group of five lobstermen that sued the state of Maine in an attempt to stop electronic boat tracking requirements that went into effect almost one year ago.
The rules require lobstermen with federal fishing permits to install monitors on their boats that track their location on the water.
The lobstermen argued that the tracking is a violation of their constitutional rights to privacy, equal protection and due process.
A federal judge in Bangor dismissed the case Thursday, in part, because of jurisdictional issues. Though the Maine Department of Marine Resources promulgated the rules, the policy to begin monitoring came from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The commission said it’s seeking more data from multiple states about fishing trends and potential interactions with critically endangered right whales and other species.
Judge John Woodcock said he was also swayed by DMR’s arguments that the monitoring is not overly intrusive of lobstermen privacy, as the industry is subject to tougher standards and conservation measures that are meant to protect the fishery.
The fishermen argued that they should not be subject to monitoring at all times. They often use their boats for other purposes beyond commercial lobstering, which Woodcock acknowledged.
“The court must instead conclude that the Maine Department of Marine Resources’ collection system cannot be designed without the overaccumulation of both relevant and irrelevant data,” the decision reads. “Furthermore, the [DMR] commissioner has represented that the current level of data accumulation is scientifically inadequate to the task of lobster preservation. As the lobstermen work in a closely regulated industry, the court concludes that given the choice between the overaccumulation of data and the accumulation of inadequate data, the law favors preservation of the resource over the lobstermen’s rights of privacy.”
Attorney Al Frawley said the lobstermen remain skeptical about the tracking requirements.
“That’s one of our primary concerns, is that there’s a lack of transparency into how the information can be used, and in particular, what federal and state agencies this information can be shared with,” he said.
A DMR spokesperson was not immediately available on Thursday to comment on the decision.
The boat tracking requirements will stay in place for now. But in his decision, Woodcock said the lobstermen had raised important Fourth Amendment questions and encouraged them to appeal the case.
Frawley said the fishermen will evaluate their options.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
