{"id":4889,"date":"2011-01-25T21:37:29","date_gmt":"2010-11-15T00:22:13","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-14T16:19:12","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=4889","title":{"rendered":"ME: Lobster searches: Maine fishery officers have jurisdiction to board and search fishing vessels 25 miles off shore for illegally taking lobster"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Maine lobster search by state fishery officers in \u201cinternational waters\u201d but in the federal \u201cexclusive economic zone\u201d was valid. Officers did not need probable cause to boat and search. State v. Thomas<\/a>, 2010 ME 116, 8 A.3d 638 (2010):<\/p>\n

[*P3] On July 12, 2007, several Maine marine patrol officers located the Blue Water approximately thirty-five miles from Matinicus Island. On that day, the Blue Water was rigged for groundfishing. Thomas and the marine patrol officers were familiar with each other, and Thomas was unhappy that the officers had arrived at his boat. The officers asked to board the Blue Water, and Thomas initially refused them permission because he was fishing in federal waters beyond what he perceived to be their law enforcement jurisdiction. When the officers invoked their federal authority, Thomas allowed them to board, believing that he would be \u201ctaken into custody immediately\u201d if he refused a federal inspection. [n. 5: Maine marine patrol officers are authorized by the federal government to exercise federal enforcement authority in federal waters.]<\/p>\n

[*P4] Once aboard the Blue Water, the officers examined plastic totes on the deck of the Blue Water and found seventy-eight lobsters; twenty-four of the lobsters were oversize. A number of them were banded in the totes. Maine law establishes a maximum length for lobsters that may be kept. 12 M.R.S. \u00a7 6431(1). Maine law also prohibits taking lobsters by any method other than conventional lobster traps. 12 M.R.S. \u00a7 6432(1). Thomas was charged with violating both statutes. … <\/p>\n

[*P6] The Blue Water was in the federal exclusive economic zone (EEZ) at the time of the search. The EEZ extends two hundred nautical miles from where the territorial sea is measured, and \u201cthe inner boundary of that zone is a line coterminous with the seaward boundary of each of the coastal States.\u201d 16 U.S.C.S. \u00a7 1802(11)<\/a> (LexisNexis 1999); see also Proclamation No. 5030, 48 Fed. Reg. 10,605 (Mar. 14, 1983).<\/p>\n

[*P7] The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C.S. \u00a7\u00a7 1801-1884 (LexisNexis 1999 & Supp. 2010), applies in the EEZ. …<\/p>\n

[*P9] The court denied Thomas\u2019s motion to suppress, finding that the officers had an independent legal basis to search the Blue Water, because Maine law requires a person licensed under the marine resource laws \u201cto submit to inspection and search for violations related to the licensed activities by a marine patrol officer.\u201d 12 M.R.S. \u00a7 6306(1) (2007). The court held that section 6306 applied to the Blue Water in the EEZ because the Blue Water was a vessel registered under the laws of Maine. See 16 U.S.C.S. \u00a7 1856(a)(3)<\/a>. Therefore, neither Thomas\u2019s consent nor probable cause was necessary to allow the search.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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