Boat Owners’ Attorneys Get $160K in Fees After GPS Tracking Win

The federal government will pay $160,000 to resolve a fee dispute with attorneys who represented 1,300 charter-boat owners in a class-action challenge to a federal rule requiring round-the-clock GPS tracking of their boats.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down the National Marine Fisheries Service rule in February, finding it was promulgated in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act and likely violated the Fourth Amendment. The rule would have required charter-boat owners to install an onboard tracking device at their own expense.

• The Fifth Circuit found NMFS didn’t weigh the costs and privacy risks to owners ...