File Photo
Don Cynewski is general manager of Ducktrap River of Maine, and a 2014 Mainebiz Next List honoree.
Updated: January 6, 2021
Belfast salmon company now faces 3 lawsuits over marketing, with $10M in potential claims
Courtesy / Ducktrap River of Maine
In this 2014 photo, two workers at the Ducktrap River plant in Belfast prepare fish for vacuum-sealed packaging.
By William Hall
A Belfast salmon producer sued last summer for deceptive marketing is the target of two other suits over similar allegations, but on Wednesday morning told Mainebiz that at least one of the suits — filed in Maine last week — is unfounded.
Ducktrap River of Maine and its Norwegian owner, Mowi ASA, falsely advertised Ducktrap products as sustainably sourced, “all natural” and originating from the state, according to the July 30 complaint by the Organic Consumers Association in the District of Columbia Superior Court.
As Mainebiz reported at the time, that suit did not seek monetary damages and instead sought “only an end to the deceptive marketing and advertising.” The case is still pending.
But the two federal class-action suits that followed could be more costly to Ducktrap and Mowi.
A Nov. 5 complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York makes nearly identical allegations as the D.C. case. The New York suit involves monetary claims of more than $5 million, although damages are not specified.
The suit was filed on behalf of Neversink General Store, in Neversink, N.Y., as well as potential plaintiffs throughout the country, and alleges they were fraudulently led to pay a premium price for the salmon, which Ducktrap smokes at its Belfast facility. Ducktrap also violated consumer protection laws in New York and other states, according to the suit.
Last Thursday, Ducktrap and Mowi were hit with a third suit, this one in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine. The complaint on behalf of a Brooklyn, N.Y., woman, Abigail Starr, and another potential class of plaintiffs makes similar claims of deceptive marketing and alleges that the companies violated consumer protection laws. The suit also involves claims of more than $5 million and does not specify damages.
However, this suit notes in two counts that the alleged consumer violations could carry penalties totaling $550 per product sale. And unlike the other two suits, the Maine case is based solely on the claim that Ducktrap’s salmon, despite its advertising, is not sustainably sourced.
Lawyers for Starr are the same ones representing the Organic Consumers Association, Irvington, N.Y.-based Richman Law Group, which has worked on previous consumer rights cases with the attorneys for Neversink, the Shub Law Firm of Haddonfield, N.J. None of the attorneys immediately responded to inquiries from Mainebiz.
A fish story?
Criticism of salmon farming over sustainability practices is not new, and Mowi has not been immune to it.
The company is the world’s largest producer of farmed salmon, responsible for 20% of it. Mowi in 2019 had revenues of nearly $5 billion, with 15,000 employees and operations in 25 countries, according to its annual report. In 2007 Mowi acquired Ducktrap, which began in 1978 as a trout farm, shifted into salmon smoking, and by 2018 had 160 employees at its newly expanded plant in Belfast.
The Maine suit claims Ducktrap products are made from salmon farmed at Mowi’s facilities throughout the world, using unsustainable practices that are environmentally destructive and inhumane. The practices include raising the fish in overcrowded, disease-ridden marine pens, according to the complaint.
In an example, the complaint reads: “As recently as August of 2020, the Chilean government determined that Mowi’s salmon farming facilities have caused ‘irreparable environmental damage’ to the Chilean marine ecosystem.”
“By deceiving consumers about the nature and sourcing of the products, Mowi is able to sell a greater volume of the products, to charge higher prices for the products, and to take away market share from competing products, thereby increasing its own sales and profits.”
On Wednesday, Ducktrap General Manager Don Cynewski provided Mainebiz with a statement from Mowi on the Maine suit, reading in part: “The allegations in this lawsuit are unfounded. All Mowi farm-raised Atlantic salmon products in the U.S. are certified as sustainably and responsibly sourced by independent third parties.
"For example, following a rigorous certification process, Best Aquaculture Practices and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council have each recognized that Mowi abides by industry best practices for sustainable aquaculture ...
"Mowi’s marketing does not deceive clients or consumers. We look forward to vigorously defending this lawsuit.”
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