BEAN MAINE LOBSTER, INC., MAINE LOBSTERMEN’S ASSOCIATION, INC., MAINE COAST FISHERMEN’S ASSOCIATION, INC., MAINE LOBSTER AND PROCESSING, LLC d/b/a ATWOOD LOBSTER, LLC., and BUG CATCHER, INC., v. MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM FOUNDATION

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Description

A group of Maine-based lobster fishers filed a defamation suit against the Monterey Bay Aquarium in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine. The suit alleges that the Monterey Bay Aquarium knowingly made false statements that lobster fishing in Maine coastal waters is unsustainable due to its harm to endangered North Atlantic right whales, resulting in “several large businesses that had purchased lobsters from Plaintiffs in the past announc[ing] that they will no longer carry Maine-caught lobsters.” Plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief, monetary damages, punitive damages, and costs. On March 2, 2023, a similar suit was filed by Massachusetts-based lobster fishers against the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Marine Stewardship Council in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

[To accompany Federal Court Case Law Update "Maine Lobster Fishers File Defamation Suit Against Monterey Bay Aquarium" from Brooks Animal Law Digest Issue No. 181]