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 ...
Lobsters are not caught in nets
A West coast news station reporting on an east coast story.
The AP is all over the world.
From 2022...
Looks like the lobstermen have a good case.
The west coast likes cheaper lobster.
Some are trawled; but I haven’t heard of that used off of our US coasts.
“...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.
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.
How does a whale fit into a lobster pot?
A West coast news station reporting on an east coast story.
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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.
Some are trawled; but I haven’t heard of that used off of our US coasts.
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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.
That’s it, I’m eating more lobster.
Maine lobster are the ones with claws and are in the arachnid family. The ones without are in the cockroach family.
Lobsters crawl right in and give up ,LOL
Lobsters are arthropods, not arachnids.
Associated Propaganda
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!!!!
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?
They didn’t say nets they said fishing gear.
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