May 26, 2022 — Six international seafood companies have agreed to pay $85 million to resolve antitrust claims over an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of Atlantic farm-raised salmon, the plaintiffs’ lawyers said in a proposed settlement filed on Wednesday.
Direct-purchase class plaintiffs including Euclid Fish Co in Ohio and New Jersey’s The Fishing Line LLC alleged in claims first filed in 2019 in Florida federal court against leading Norwegian companies and others that they paid artificially inflated prices for farm-raised salmon and related products, including fillets and smoked salmon.
The defendants included Norway’s Mowi ASA, the world’s largest fish farming company.
In settling the case, the plaintiffs said they faced “significant hurdles” since the alleged misconduct “occurred years ago and often involves personnel whom defendants no longer employ.” Lawyers from plaintiffs’ firms Podhurst Orseck and Hausfeld said in court filings they represent a settlement class with 800 members.
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