NCLA to State Court: End WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife’s Illegal 24-Hour Surveillance of Crab Boats
Sarah Franey; Brent and Mark Young v. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Director Kelly Susewind
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Washington, D.C., Aug. 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Local crab fishing boat captains Sarah Franey, Brent Young and Mark Young use their boats not only to catch Dungeness crab in the waters of Washington state, but also for personal pursuits like fishing elsewhere, transportation and sightseeing. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Electronic Monitoring Program tracks their movements on every voyage—regardless of its purpose—whenever they have crab pots in the water during the nine-month-long crab season.
The program allows the Department to send this location data to law enforcement and other agencies without a warrant. It also takes hard-earned money out of the crab fishermen’s pockets by requiring them to pay for the electronic monitoring systems and their upkeep on their vessels, despite the program failing to help the government track crab populations or protect wildlife more effectively than it already does.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance represents Franey and the Youngs in a lawsuit challenging this illegal scheme. Alongside local counsel Harry Korrell and Makenzie Barron of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, NCLA asked the Superior Court of the State of Washington today to grant summary judgment in Franey and Young v. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and set the Electronic Monitoring Program aside.
By forcing crab fishermen to send GPS data on their movements and location history to a government agency, the Department violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and its counterpart in the Washington Constitution, which prohibit unreasonable and warrantless searches. The forced use of portions of the Plaintiffs’ vessels for the monitoring systems and the seizure of the data on their routes and places also takes their property. The Department’s seizure of this property without compensation defies the Fifth Amendment and the corresponding Washington State law. In addition, the Washington Wildlife Code does not give the Department authority to use the threat of criminal penalties to enforce the arbitrary and capricious Electronic Monitoring Program.
NCLA released the following statements:
“The crabbers of Washington State do not give up their rights against unlawful search and seizure merely because they decide on the lawful pursuit of harvesting crabs.”
— John Vecchione, Senior Litigation Counsel, NCLA
“Imagine the Framers’ reaction to the way today’s governments, theoretically subject to the Constitution, constantly surveil their residents. Intuitively and legally, such general surveillance is not a legitimate government activity.”
— Zhonette Brown, General Counsel and Senior Litigation Counsel, NCLA
For more information visit the case page here.
ABOUT NCLA
NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLA’s public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans’ fundamental rights.
Joe Martyak New Civil Liberties Alliance 703-403-1111 joe.martyak@ncla.legal
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