Saving Seafood

Ken Worsham, Scott Cameron avoid jail time, concluding tuna price-fixing case sentencings

April 28, 2021 — Former Bumble Bee Foods executives Kenneth Worsham and Walter Scott Cameron were each sentenced to three years’ probation for their roles in a conspiracy to fix the price of canned tuna sold in the United States between 2011 and 2013.

Both were sentenced by Judge Edward M. Chen of the Northern District of California on Wednesday, 28 April, and both received more lenient sentences than typical for the level of crimes to which they pleaded guilty because they served as key witnesses in the U.S. government’s case against former Bumble Bee Foods CEO Chris Lischewski, who is currently serving a 40-month prison sentence. Former StarKist executive Stephen Hodge also served as a witness in the U.S. government’s case against Lischewski, and received leniency in a non-custodial, probationary sentence issued by Chen in January.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

StarKist says all its salmon and tuna now sustainably-sourced

April 26, 2021 — Starkist is now sourcing all of its tuna and salmon from sustainable sources.

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.-based company is now sourcing 100 percent of its tuna and salmon from suppliers that meet the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard for sustainable fishing or are working toward certification, including those participating in a comprehensive fishery improvement project (FIP), the tuna supplier said in a press release.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Chicken of the Sea nearing two price-fixing settlements

April 19, 2021 — Chicken of the Sea is nearing two settlements in civil litigation launched against it in relation to its role in fixing the prices of canned tuna.

The El Segundo, California, U.S.A.-based company and its parent firm, Thai Union, have agreed in principle on two separate agreements with those who claim to have overpaid for tuna it sold between 2011 and 2015 – allegations that stem from a criminal case in which Chicken of the Sea served as a whistleblower.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

“I just did the job” – StarKist’s Stephen Hodge explains role in price-fixing scheme

January 22, 2021 — Stephen L. Hodge says he’s sorry for his role in the price-fixing scandal that has rocked the U.S. canned tuna industry, resulting in massive fines for two of the companies involved, including his former employer, and a prison sentence for one of the scheme’s leaders.

Hodge, a former senior vice president of sales for StarKist who testified on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in the criminal price-fixing cases against StarKist, as well as Bumble Bee Foods and former Bumble Bee President and CEO Chris Lischewski, avoided jail time in his sentencing, which took place 13 January.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ISSF adds social and labor standards to membership requirements

November 24, 2020 — The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has added new labor and social standards to its requirements for member companies, which include tuna processors, traders, importers, transporters, marketers, and more.

The new standard – Conservation Measure 9.1 Public Policy on Social and Labor Standards – will require any business associated with ISSF to develop, and publish, social and labor standards and/or a sourcing policy that applies to the entire supply chain, which addresses forced labor; child labor; freedom of association; wages, benefits, and employment contracts; working hours; health and safety; discrimination, harassment, and abuse; and grievance mechanisms. The policy must be public – meaning it must be at a minimum available to the general public.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

In a rare outcome, former Bumble Bee CEO will be sent to prison for price-fixing

June 17, 2020 — The former chief executive officer and president of Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, one of the world’s largest producers of canned tuna and other seafood products, has been sentenced to 40 months in jail for his leadership role in a three-year antitrust conspiracy to fix the prices of canned tuna. Christopher Lischewski’s sentence, which also includes a $100,000 criminal fine, comes after a San Francisco jury found him guilty in December of helping to orchestrate the scheme, which also involved the StarKist and Chicken of the Sea companies.

“The conduct was deliberate, it was planned, it was sustained, over a three-year period,” said Judge Edward M. Chen, according to reporting from Seafood Source. “This was not a rash act of having to commit a crime under distress, under episodic circumstances as we see sometimes, this was a contemplated and deliberate plan.”

Moreover, he said, the scheme targeted poor people.

Read the full story at The Counter

Found guilty of price-fixing, Chris Lischewski braces for upcoming sentencing

June 4, 2020 — Chris Lischewski, the former president and CEO of Bumble Bee Foods, will finally face sentencing on Tuesday, 16 June after months of delays caused by the coronavirus crisis.

After a three-week-long trial ending in December, a jury found Lischewski guilty of being involved in a scheme between Bumble Bee, StarKist, and Chicken of the Sea to fix the price of canned tuna sold in the United States between 2011 and 2013. Lischewski faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of USD 1 million (EUR 900,000).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Washington state sues Starkist over price-fixing

June 3, 2020 — Bob Ferguson, the attorney general for the U.S. state of Washington, filed a civil lawsuit on 2 June against canned tuna producer Starkist, its parent company Dongwon Industries, and Chris Lischewski, the former CEO of Bumble Bee Foods, alleging a price-fixing conspiracy they were involved cost the state’s citizens at least USD 6  million (EUR 5.3 million).

Washington is the first state to bring a civil suit in the price-fixing scandal, which resulted from an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, resulting in guilty pleas from StarKist and Bumble Bee in separate criminal trials, and Lischewski’s conviction in a trial at the end of last year.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

American Samoa’s local longliner fleet gets new dedicated dock space

May 18, 2020 — The long-awaited project to build a dock for larger American Samoa fishing vessels broke ground on 7 April, and had a groundbreaking ceremony on 7 May, according to a press release from the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.

The new berthing area extends the current dock by 450 feet, and will grant the longliner fleet in the area its first dedicated space. Local longliners currently berth “opportunistically” at the main Pago Pago port, StarKist, and Malaloa facilities, but can frequently be required to move when container ships and cruise liners require them to relocate.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

As Canned Tuna Fly Off Shelves, Operations of U.S. Boats Are Compromised

March 19, 2020 — Consumers bracing against Covid-19 have raised demands not only for health and safety products but also for many food staples, including tuna. According to a recent National Public Radio report, tuna sales were up more than 31 percent last week compared to the same time last year.

StarKist Samoa, located in the U.S. Territory of American Samoa, supplies tuna for the U.S. market.

Read the full story at Seafood News