January 2, 2024
Black Box - Motion
Today, five Maine lobstermen, with the support of the Sustainable Maine Fishing Foundation, have filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Maine alleging that recent rules promulgated by the Maine Department of Marine Fisheries (“MDMR”) present an immediate and serious risk to the constitutionally protected privacy interests of Maine lobstermen. Those rules, which went into effect on December 15, 2023, mandate that all Maine lobstermen with federal lobster fishing permits install and maintain 24-hour electronic tracking devices on their lobster fishing vessels and to keep them operational “when the vessel is in the water regardless of the landing state, trip type, location fished or target species.”
December 13, 2023
Black Box
Letter to DMR - Following a thorough review of the Addendum and its implications for federal license holders, it is SMFF’s position that the current regulation and the proposed implementation scheme runs afoul of the right to a reasonable expectation of privacy guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
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