Tuna giant Bumble Bee Foods has agreed to remove specific claims about its fishing practices and working conditions, including “fair and safe supply chain” and “fair and responsible working conditions,” from its website, social media presence and other public advertising as part of a settlement for a lawsuit questioning those marketing claims.
Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF) filed the lawsuit last March against Bumble Bee, highlighting in its complaint Bumble Bee's history of labor problems in the deep-sea fishing sector. Through the settlement, Bumble Bee agreed to remove the disputed statements for 10 years.
"Most of the tuna produced through FCF’s supply chain comes from fishing methods and regions recognized by US government agencies as high risk for forced labor and other abuses," the complaint said.
Taiwan-based FCF Fishery acquired Bumble Bee in 2020 for $928 million (€841.9 million). Prior to that acquisition, FCF was a longtime tuna supplier to the canned seafood company.
"Bumble Bee has thus long relied on FCF’s supply chain and profited from the well documented and endemic labor abuses therein," the complaint explained.
The justice advocacy group filed the lawsuit in a Washington, DC court under the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act, which allows public-interest nonprofit organizations to bring consumer protection claims on behalf of consumers and the general public.
That lawsuit said Bumble Bee's use of the MSC label "deceives and misleads reasonable consumers into believing the products are sourced from sustainable fishing practices."
The plaintiffs in that case filed a separate but similar lawsuit against Conagra-owned Mrs. Paul's and Van de Kamps frozen fish over its use of the MSC label for frozen Russian pollock products harvested in the Bering Sea by Russian fisheries that use pelagic midwater trawls. As part of that lawsuit they are currently seeking $5 million (€4.7 million) in damages.
Subsequent to the filing of the complaint against Bumble Bee over the eco-label, plaintiffs recently asked for that complaint to be dismissed, but for the one against Conagra to move forward.
The judge has yet to rule on the request for dismissal in the Bumble Bee case.
In the past three years, US consumers have brought similar deceptive marketing complaints against Gorton's, Cooke, Aldi and Mowi.
Out of those, Gorton's settled its lawsuit for an undisclosed amount. Mowi was forced to pay a hefty $1.3 million (€1 million) settlement and remove the terms "sustainable" and "eco-friendly" from some of its products sold in the United States.
