Norwegian Salmon Producers Settle US Antitrust Suit

Greig, Leroy, SalMar and Mowi, all Norwegian salmon produces say a settlement has been reached in a class-action in the US against six producers and/or sellers of Norwegian salmon over claims concerning anti-competitive behavior.

“While all defendants reject that there is any basis for the claims and consider the complaints to be entirely unsubstantiated, all defendants in the US class action related to the direct purchaser case have now, following a mandatory mediation procedure, accepted a settlement offer from the direct purchaser plaintiffs subject to approval by the court of Southern District of Florida”

The EC’s investigation prompted both a criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice and a class action by salmon buyers in the US, with the latest hearing in that case due today. Mowi, Grieg, Lerøy, SalMar and Cermaq are defendants in the case, along with marketing companies Ocean Quality North America Inc and Sjór AS.

The buyers accuse the fish farmers and their affiliates of conspiring to fix prices on Atlantic salmon they grew for sale in the US. They alleged that the scheme has been ongoing since 2013.

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