The Supreme Court will decide later this month whether to hear a challenge from a Maine lobster fisherman.

He is challenging a government requirement that boats use electronic tracking devices.

The case could have broad consequences for the American commercial fishing industry.

Frank Thompson, a Maine lobsterman, filed a federal lawsuit against the head of his state's marine resources department.

He objects to a rule requiring him to install a GPS tracker on his boat to keep his fishing license.

In 2023, the state required all federally permitted lobstermen to do so.

This was to comply with a new U.S. rule aimed at data collection.

Thompson argued the monitoring amounted to unreasonable search and seizure.

But a federal appeals court denied his claim last year.

He then appealed to the Supreme Court, which is set to review the claim on Sept. 28.

Matt Gilliam, Thompson's lead attorney, said the petition asks whether Maine can force lobstermen to carry government GPS trackers on their private boats.

He said this applies even when they are off the job.

He said he hopes the court will grant review and address this Fourth Amendment question.

Many U.S. commercial fishermen are monitored at sea by human observers and electronic devices.

Regulators say the data is crucial to keeping the industry and fish populations sustainable and healthy.

Fishing groups have used the courts over the years to try to limit monitoring requirements, with mixed results.

Authorities have said the lobster boat monitoring program is important for understanding the valuable crustacean's population.

That population appears to be declining in New England.

A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Marine Resources declined to comment on Monday.

Commissioner Carl Wilson said last year that data from lobster boats is important to mitigate economic harm to the industry and to inform regulations.

Conservation groups have opposed efforts to scale back monitoring.

Erica Fuller, senior counsel with the Conservation Law Foundation, said efforts to overturn the appeals court ruling do not change the fact that New England's lobster population has declined.

She said fishery managers urgently need reliable data.

The U.S. lobster industry is based mostly in Maine, where fishermen caught more than 78 million pounds last year.

That was on par with the industry's typical annual catch in the 2000s.

But it was a sharp decline from a decade ago, when catches routinely topped 120 million pounds a year.