Maine Lobster Industry Can Sue Seafood Watchdog for Defamation, Judge Rules
A federal judge last month denied a motion to have the case dismissed, drawing an appeal on Thursday from the group Seafood Watch, a nonprofit run by the Monterey Bay Aquarium that publishes seafood sustainability ratings.
It has been nearly two years since the Maine Lobstermen's Association and several other plaintiffs sued the nonprofit after it downgraded the sustainability rating for American lobsters caught off Maine from yellow to red in 2022. The nonprofit advised consumers to avoid those lobsters, saying that endangered North Atlantic right whales were at significant risk of becoming entangled in fishing gear.
The fishermen blamed Seafood Watch in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Maine, for damaging the reputation of the billion-dollar industry and prompting some of their customers to cancel contracts.
'Reputation and goodwill cannot be adequately replaced through awarding damages and this injury lingers as long as the 'red listing' does,' Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. wrote in the 137-page order denying the motion to dismiss the case.
The fishermen applauded the judge's ruling in a statement, having argued in the lawsuit that the average price per pound of lobster dropped by 40 percent after Seafood Watch changed its sustainability rating.
'This ruling is a crucial step in holding the Monterey Bay Aquarium accountable for misleading statements that have unfairly targeted our industry,' Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen's Association, said in a statement. 'Maine lobstermen have been stewards of the ocean for generations, and we are committed to defending our livelihood against baseless claims.'
In a statement mentioning that it was appealing the ruling, the Monterey Bay Aquarium said that the lawsuit should be dismissed under a Maine law that was intended to defend against frivolous lawsuits that stymie free speech.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries estimated that there are about 370 North Atlantic right whales remaining, making it one of the world's most endangered whale species. The number of new calves born in recent years has been below average, according to NOAA.
The primary threats to the whales, which can weigh up to 140,000 pounds and measure up to 52 feet in length, are vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglements.
At the time that Seafood Watch placed its do-not-buy designation on Maine lobsters, the nonprofit said that the red rating was based on 'significant risks of entanglement in pot, trap, and gillnet fisheries to the endangered North Atlantic right whale and the lack of timely, effective management necessary to mitigate entanglement risks and promote recovery of the species.'
The fishermen who sued the nonprofit argued that Maine's lobster industry had taken steps to modify gear, and that Seafood Watch's rating was based on outdated and irrelevant data. Three days after the rating was announced, the governor of Maine and its congressional delegation sent a letter to the aquarium asking it to reverse the designation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
15 minutes ago
- CNBC
How Putin could try to outmaneuver Trump when they meet
Russian President Vladimir Putin's standing in the West may be pretty low, but he's a skilled and seasoned statesman who shouldn't be underestimated, analysts say — and he's likely to be looking to outmaneuver his less experienced U.S. counterpart when the leaders meet in Alaska on Friday. Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump are meeting to try to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, but close followers of Moscow's leadership are skeptical that any lasting resolution will be reached at the summit. "Let's be clear, Putin does not take Trump seriously," Tina Fordham, founder of Fordham Global Foresight, told CNBC ahead of the talks. "He has ramped up attacks, including on civilians in urban centers over the summer, and that has upset Trump and frustrated him, and frankly, it's humiliating," Fordham said, adding that meeting Trump would be "a low-cost photo op for Putin, who has a real track record of manipulating Trump administration officials." Ukraine and its European allies (who have not been invited to the talks) also argue that Putin is not serious about ending the conflict of more than three years. Kyiv's leadership also claimed this week that intelligence suggests Russia is preparing to mount new offensives , rather than preparing for a ceasefire or peace. CNBC contacted the Kremlin for a response to the claims and is awaiting a response. Military analysts cited several reasons that Russia might not want to end the war before it needs to, such as its forces' relatively advantageous position on the battlefield despite high attrition rates; entrenched position in Russian-occupied regions in the south and east of Ukraine; and ability to throw more manpower into the fight. Maximum concessions It's therefore likely that Putin will try to extract the as many concessions and benefits for Russia as he can from the United States when he sets foot on American soil for the first time in almost a decade. "The Russian side will likely seek to broaden the agenda beyond Ukraine, emphasizing the potential for strategic geopolitical and economic cooperation — including lucrative energy deals and potential arms control or strategic weapons treaties," Andrius Tursa, Central and Eastern Europe advisor at risk consultancy Teneo, said in emailed comments this week. "The Kremlin likely hopes that the transactional nature of Trump's approach to foreign policy will help advance Putin's objectives in Ukraine, such as territorial concessions, restrictions on Ukraine's sovereignty and military capabilities, and replacement of its political leadership," he added. The Kremlin's awareness of Trump's transactional nature when it comes to deal-making is likely to underscore how Putin approaches him during talks, and Putin is a skilled negotiator, according to Christopher Granville, managing director at TS Lombard. "Putin is always skillful in using 'give and take,'" he told CNBC's " Squawk Box Europe " on Monday. "True, Putin's got a big win [by being invited to Alaska] and securing negotiations on a deal before a ceasefire," he said, "but he's given Trump something." "He's given the impression that Trump's hardline has worked, that Putin has offered concessions on territorial swaps ... and that's already a sign of this skillful 'give and take' — or illusion of 'give and take'' —which President Putin has deployed so successfully on many occasions in the past," he said. Trump showed weakness A potential source of weakness for Trump as he heads into the meeting is that Putin will recognize that the U.S. president has, despite repeated threats, resisted heaping more punitive sanctions on Moscow even though it refused a ceasefire with Ukraine that was supported by both Washington and Kyiv. In fact, Trump has so far preferred to punish Russia's friends and trading partners such as its oil buyer India — rather than Russia itself — with higher tariffs and the threat of "secondary sanctions." "Putin is smart enough to recognize that Trump is turning up the heat, but it's very significant that Trump decided to turn up the heat on his friend [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi in India, and not on Putin himself," Fordham told CNBC. "It tells us that President Trump is very reluctant to actually put the pressure directly on Putin, so much so that he's willing to jeopardize this relationship with India, which is a hugely important ally within the wider context of U.S.-China relations," she added. Trump has also been accused of showing his cards to Russia by suggesting that Washington could entertain the notion of Ukraine "swapping" some territory with its neighbor, a suggestion that has provoked consternation in Europe, which has urged Trump not to concede too much to Putin. Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, told CNBC on Tuesday that Putin was stringing Trump along and was just " pretending to negotiate ." CNBC has asked the Kremlin to respond to the claim. Russia's economy helps But although Putin appears to be entering the talks from a position of strength rather than weakness — a position not many global leaders find themselves in when meeting Trump — the Russian president could arguably be looking for an off-ramp as Russia's economy and citizens labor under the weight of international sanctions, labor shortages and rampant inflation, which even Putin described as "alarming." ″[Putin] starts from a relatively strong position on the battlefield. They're advancing," Richard Portes, head of the economics faculty at the London Business School, told CNBC Monday. "On the other hand, from the economic point of view, he starts from a weak position. The Russian economy is not in very good shape. They're running a significant fiscal deficit, partly because oil revenues are down very substantially, oil and gas [are down] because of the oil price. And ... this is a weak economy," Portes told CNBC's " Europe Early Edition. " Michael Froman, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and former U.S. trade representative, told CNBC that Putin could agree to a ceasefire, but only if Trump offers serious concessions on Russia's oil exports, which have come under sanctions and restrictions, including an oil price cap. "I think if Putin comes in and says, 'Alright, I'm willing to accept a ceasefire, but you got to relieve the pressure on my oil sales,' well, that's a deal that that could be talked about, right? That's the president using leverage to get Putin to come to the table, to do something he was not willing to do before, which is to accept an unconditional ceasefire, and that would put an end to the fighting." "If the president is able to come back from Alaska with a ceasefire, that will be a significant achievement, if it they start getting into trading territory at Ukraine's expense, then it's not going to be a very good or sustainable agreement," Froman said.
UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
Trump revokes Biden antitrust EO targeting monopolies
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order revoking a Biden-era antitrust initiative. Photo by Will Oliver/UPI | License Photo Aug. 14 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday rescinded a signature Joe Biden-era initiative aimed at promoting competition in the U.S. economy and curbing monopolies, especially in the technology industry. Trump revoked Biden's Executive Order 14036 with an executive order of his own. The far-ranging EO 14036 was signed by Biden in July 2021 to bolster antitrust enforcement to "promote the interests of American workers, businesses and consumers" and protect them from economic consolidation. Trump offered no reason for the revocation, though the Justice Department celebrated the move, saying it will use this as an opportunity to "recalibrate and modernize" its approach to competition policy. "America First Antitrust focuses on empowering the American people in the free markets, not enabling regulators and bureaucrats to prescribe outcomes," Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division said in a statement. "We are unleashing the new American Golden Age through antitrust enforcement that removes barriers to innovation and opportunity and limits regulatory burdens on free competition." The Justice Department also criticized the Biden initiative as "overly prescriptive and burdensome," and said that the Trump administration is focused on crafting executive orders that are "tailored" and call for lowering drug prices and reducing regulatory barriers.
Business Insider
3 hours ago
- Business Insider
Google investing $9B in infrastructure, AI-ready workforce in Oklahoma
Google is investing an additional $9B in Oklahoma within the next two years in cloud and AI infrastructure, the company said in a blog post. 'This investment supports the development of a new data center campus in Stillwater and the expansion of our existing facility in Pryor, as well as expanded education and workforce development programs. As part of a broader $1B commitment to American education and competitiveness, the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University are part of the first cohort of the Google AI for Education Accelerator that launched last week, giving Sooners and Cowboys no-cost access to Google Career Certificates and AI training courses. Google is also providing funding to support an innovative program with the electrical training ALLIANCE to increase the electrical workforce pipeline in Oklahoma by 135%, helping develop the labor force needed to build new energy infrastructure. This is an extraordinary time for American innovation. These investments will prepare Oklahoma's students with critical AI and job-ready skills, and create a talent pipeline of workers to power not only Oklahoma's future, but America's AI leadership.' Elevate Your Investing Strategy:
