Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Lobster Fishermen Can Sue Environmental Group for Defamation, Judge Says
KSBW ^ | Mar 4, 2025

Posted on 03/04/2025 11:27:20 AM PST by nickcarraway

A group of lobster fishermen can sue one of the world’s largest seafood watchdog groups for defamation, a federal court has ruled, over a report that described Maine lobster as an unwise choice for consumers. The threat to a rare whale species from getting tangled in fishing gear has prompted Monterey Bay Aquarium in California to caution against eating a variety of lobster that New England fishermen have harvested for centuries.

Seafood Watch, a conservation program operated by the aquarium, placed lobster from the U.S. and Canada on its do-not-eat “red list” in 2022. Some retailers pulled lobster from stores after the recommendation. Judge John Woodcock ruled last month that the fishermen made a case that they suffered damage to their industry’s reputation as a result of the red-listing, after the aquarium made a bid in U.S. District Court in Maine to have the 2023 lawsuit tossed. A spokesperson for the aquarium said Monday the institution filed an appeal, but Woodcock’s ruling means the lawsuit is moving forward.

“Reputation and goodwill cannot be adequately replaced through awarding damages and this injury lingers as long as the ‘red listing’ does,” Woodcock wrote.

The lobster industry, based largely in Maine, is one of the most lucrative fisheries in the U.S., valued at more than half a billion dollars at the docks last year. Entanglement in lobster gear is also one of the most significant threats to the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers less than 400.

(Excerpt) Read more at ksbw.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Food; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: dmaine; dubyajudge; environmental; fishing; johnawoodcock; johnawoodcockjr; johnwoodcock; lobster; maine
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-39 next last

1 posted on 03/04/2025 11:27:20 AM PST by nickcarraway
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Lobsters are not caught in nets


2 posted on 03/04/2025 11:29:22 AM PST by Fai Mao ( Democrats need to go to prison.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

A West coast news station reporting on an east coast story.


3 posted on 03/04/2025 11:30:07 AM PST by Steven Scharf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Steven Scharf

The AP is all over the world.


4 posted on 03/04/2025 11:30:57 AM PST by nickcarraway
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

From 2022...

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/avoid-eating-new-england-lobster-sustainability-group-says/2996240/?os=%40%40xD4Wd&ref=app

Looks like the lobstermen have a good case.


5 posted on 03/04/2025 11:34:23 AM PST by mewzilla (Swing away, Mr. President, swing away!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Steven Scharf

The west coast likes cheaper lobster.


6 posted on 03/04/2025 11:34:56 AM PST by mewzilla (Swing away, Mr. President, swing away!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Fai Mao

Some are trawled; but I haven’t heard of that used off of our US coasts.


7 posted on 03/04/2025 11:38:50 AM PST by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Fai Mao

“...Lobsters are not caught in nets....”

Exactly.
We’re good friends with 3rd/4h generation lobstermen up there....hard-working, conservative people that voted for Trump.
On top of that, there hasn’t been a right whale in the Gulf of Maine in over hundred years.
Trying to destroy one of Maine’s few industires over stupid BS... It’s harrassment.
Classic liberal insanity of the very finest variety on full display.
I hope the lobster industy sues the everloving dalyights out of em to the tune of where they gotta declare bankruptcy.


8 posted on 03/04/2025 11:39:15 AM PST by lgjhn23 ("On the 8th day, Satan created the progressive liberal to destroy all the good that God created...")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

What ever they win with the defamation suit is applied toward Damages at the rate of 16 times - Monterey Bay Aquarium could go bankrupt and Seafood Watch shuttered.


9 posted on 03/04/2025 11:39:26 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Fai Mao

How does a whale fit into a lobster pot?


10 posted on 03/04/2025 11:40:19 AM PST by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Steven Scharf

A West coast news station reporting on an east coast story.


So what? Commercial fishermen are routinely harassed by eco-orgs, and seldom have the money it takes to fully litigate and win; this is big news in the seafood community.


11 posted on 03/04/2025 11:42:07 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Jamestown1630

Some are trawled; but I haven’t heard of that used off of our US coasts.

All US lobster fisheries use traps, not trawls. The lobsters of both species are trapped - the entanglement happens from the line from the trap to the buoy on the surface.


12 posted on 03/04/2025 11:45:18 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

That’s it, I’m eating more lobster.


13 posted on 03/04/2025 11:45:30 AM PST by Dave911
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dave911

Maine lobster are the ones with claws and are in the arachnid family. The ones without are in the cockroach family.


14 posted on 03/04/2025 11:47:18 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Fai Mao

Lobsters crawl right in and give up ,LOL


15 posted on 03/04/2025 11:53:37 AM PST by butlerweave
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: PIF

Lobsters are arthropods, not arachnids.


16 posted on 03/04/2025 11:54:04 AM PST by Dave911
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Associated Propaganda


17 posted on 03/04/2025 11:58:01 AM PST by citizen (Political incrementalism is like compound interest for liberals - every little bit adds up.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Dave911

I believe you are correct...:)

Just because they look like bugs...

There is a fort in Boston Harbor (Fort Warren on George’s Island) where they kept Confederate prisoners during the Civil War, and they confederates viewed that diet as cruel and unusual punishment!!!!


18 posted on 03/04/2025 12:01:31 PM PST by rlmorel ("A people that elect corrupt politicians are not victims...but accomplices." George Orwell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Deaf Smith

Or How does a whale fit into a lobster trap? 18 inches by 18 inches by 48 inches with a line from the bouy to the trap?


19 posted on 03/04/2025 12:01:43 PM PST by JCM
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Fai Mao

They didn’t say nets they said fishing gear.


20 posted on 03/04/2025 12:03:36 PM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustmilents offered here free of charge)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-39 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson