U.S. consumers sue Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea, StarKist over 'dolphin-safe' tuna claims

Dongwon Industries

14/05/2019 17:16

By Jonathan Stempel
    May 14 (Reuters) - U.S. consumers sued Bumble Bee, Chicken
of the Sea and StarKist, accusing the country's three major
packaged-tuna brands of deceiving them into thinking their tuna
is caught only through "dolphin-safe" fishing practices.
    The proposed class actions filed on Monday said the
defendants employ fishing techniques that kill or harm dolphins,
and do not always use safer, costlier pole-and-line and other
methods used by such rivals as Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.
    The consumers said this makes the defendants' dolphin-safe
labels false and misleading, violating the laws of several U.S.
states including California, Florida, New Jersey and New York.
    They also said StarKist violated federal racketeering law
through its alleged dealings with foreign fishing companies.
    Concern about dolphin safety "makes tuna fish consumers no
different from Hindus attributing zero value to beef products,
or vegans attributing zero value to animal products, or
vegetarians attributing zero value to meat, fish, and poultry,"
the complaints said.
    StarKist said it does not discuss pending litigation, but
would not buy tuna "caught in association with dolphins." It
also condemned "indiscriminate fishing methods" that trap
dolphins along with the intended catch. 
    Bumble Bee did not immediately respond on Tuesday to
requests for comment. Chicken of the Sea had no immediate
comment.
    The lawsuits filed with the U.S. District Court in San
Francisco seek full refunds for consumers nationwide who bought
tuna in the last four years, or for premiums paid for the
dolphin-safe claims.
    It was not immediately clear how the consumers plan to show
the claims were misleading. Their law firm did not immediately
respond on Tuesday to requests for comment.
    The complaints said the defendants have made dolphin-safe
claims since 1990, when the federal Dolphin Protection Consumer
Information Act banned false labeling of tuna products.
    In December, the World Trade Organization said U.S. laws
governing dolphin-safe labels complied with that group's rules.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1YJ532 
    Bumble Bee is controlled by private equity firm Lion
Capital, Chicken of the Sea by Thailand's Thai Union Group PCL
 TU.BK , and StarKist by South Korea's Dongwon Industries Co
 006040.KS .
    The cases in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of
California are Gardner et al v StarKist Co, No. 19-02561; Duggan
et al v Tri-Union Seafoods LLC, No. 19-02562; and Duggan et al v
Bumble Bee Foods LLC, No. 19-02564.

 (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by
Bernadette Baum)
 ((jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6317; Reuters
Messaging: jon.stempel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))