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

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

The case could have big effects on the American commercial fishing industry.

Frank Thompson is a Maine lobsterman.

He filed a federal lawsuit against the head of his state's marine resources department.

He objects to a rule that requires him to install a GPS tracker on his boat.

He needs the tracker to keep his fishing license.

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

The state acted to comply with a new U.S. rule aimed at data collection.

Thompson argued the monitoring was an unreasonable search and seizure.

But a federal appeals court denied his claim last year.

He then appealed to the Supreme Court.

The court is set to review the claim on Sept. 28.

Matt Gilliam is Thompson's lead attorney.

He said the petition asks whether Maine can force lobstermen to carry government GPS trackers on their private boats.

This includes times 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.

The results have been mixed.

Authorities have said the lobster boat monitoring program is important.

It helps them understand the valuable crustacean's population, which 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.

It helps mitigate economic harm to the industry and inform regulations.

Conservation groups have opposed efforts to scale back monitoring.

Erica Fuller is senior counsel with the Conservation Law Foundation.

She 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.

Fishermen there 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.