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Settlement reached in seafood price-fixing class action lawsuit

 |  April 3, 2012

Pacific Seafood and West Coast fishermen have reached a settlement to resolve allegations brought in a class action lawsuit. The plaintiff class claimed that Pacific, the U.S.’s largest seafood buyer, fixed the prices of seafood by using its market power as both a processor and distributor. The plaintiffs’ attorneys sought $74-120 million in damages, as well as an order to have Pacific sell its processing assets.

The terms of the proposed settlement now call for no monetary damages. Instead, Pacific is to embark upon pro-competitive measures such as increasing transparency of seafood wholesale prices and accepting fish scrap from new processors. The settlement is awaiting approval by U.S. District Judge Owen Panner.

Full content: Oregon Live

 

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