Crabbers sue US state of Washington over GPS surveillance of vessels
The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit public interest law firm, has sued the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) on behalf of the state’s crabbers over its electronic monitoring of Dungeness crab fishing vessels, arguing that the program is unconstitutional.
“The desire of agencies to always know a regulated party’s location is not driven by legitimate regulatory needs,” NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione said in a statement. “We need this suit to remind the agency that our constitutions – state and federal – don’t allow that.”
The U.S. state of Washington has relied on paper logbooks to track Dungeness crab harvesters’ fishing location since 2008, but in 2024, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission implemented a new electronic monitoring program.
The new program required harvesters to equip their vessels with state-approved electronic monitoring devices, which must be powered at all times – even when moored in between trips. According to the NCLA, that means the department can track vessels even when they’re being used for personal reasons, such as sightseeing, and share that information with law enforcement agencies without a warrant.
Representing local crab fishing boat captains Sara Franey, Brent Young, and Mark Young, the NCLA filed suit against the WDFW in Washington Superior Court on 13 November.
“The department is coloring outside the lines to invent new crimes,” NCLA Litigation Counsel Sheng Li said in a statement. “Washington law makes it a crime to not use department-mandated equipment that ‘may be used to take wildlife, fish, or shellfish.’ But, GPS devices obviously are not used to ‘take’ crabs, so their non-use cannot be criminalized.”
The NCLA previously led a successful legal challenge to a NOAA Fisheries rule requiring constant GPS monitoring of Gulf of Mexico charter boats. In its ruling on the case, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the monitoring rule likely violated the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment.
“NCLA has already succeeded in setting aside warrantless federal GPS regulations for fishermen that served no legitimate purpose,” NCLA President Mark Chenoweth said. “We anticipate enjoying similar success against Washington State’s unconstitutional program.”
The commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Washington brought in USD 67 million (EUR 63 million) in landings during the 2023-2024 season.
November 18, 2024
Originally Published in SeafoodSource