US judge speeds up price fixing lawsuit

US lawyers are trying to speed up the pace of the salmon price fixing lawsuit against several Norwegian owned companies, Intrafish reported.

Consolidated lawsuits by US companies suing the Norwegian firms could be subject to conditions of the Hague Convention.

This would reportedly require the defendants to translate documents into Norwegian, and they would also have to be served notice in person, a process which could reportedly delay proceedings by up to a year.

But the Florida judge in charge of the lawsuits, Cecilia Altonaga,has ruled that the Norwegian salmon firms would receive summonses in a timely fashion by email and via the public website because each is a ‘major international business that conducts substantial business by email and maintains well-kept web pages in the English language’.

She also noted the companies have US subsidiaries that they maintain ‘sufficiently close’ relationships with.

The list of defendants includes: Mowi ASA; Marine Harvest USA; Marine Harvest Canada, Inc.; Ducktrap River of Maine LLC; Grieg Seafood ASA; Grieg Seafood BC Ltd; Bremnes Seashore AS; Ocean Quality AS; Ocean Quality North America Inc., Ocean Quality USA Inc; Ocean Quality Premium Brands, Inc; SalMar ASA; Leroy Seafood Group ASA; Leroy Seafood USA Inc.; and Scottish Sea Farms Ltd.