A PYMNTS Company

US: Antitrust lawsuit brings two shrimp producers face to face

By  |  January 31, 2016

An aquaculture technology company has filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against a rival Florida company, with alleged links to slave labour in Southeast Asia, in which it states that the latter cannot use a non-compete agreement to eliminate competition in the US shrimp market.

Shrimp is a multibillion-dollar industry, fueled by farms that raise shrimp in inland ponds.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service shrimp is the most popular seafood in the United States, with an average per capita consumption of 4 lbs.

The complaint states that defendant Florida-based Shrimp Improvement Systems (SIS) “completely dominate(s) the shrimp broodstock and postlarvae shrimp market in Texas and throughout the United States,” by using selective breeding to produce lines that resist disease and grow quickly.

Global Blue Technologies (GBT) is seeking a declaration that its new shrimp breeding operation in Taft, Texas, does not breach any non-compete deal it signed with SIS.

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