PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 10, 2024
A defamation lawsuit filed 10 months ago by a handful of Maine lobstermen’s groups will continue even though a similar suit brought by Massachusetts lobstermen was dismissed Tuesday. Five plaintiffs, including the Maine Lobsterman’s Association and the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, sued the California-based Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation in March 2023 after the organization’s Seafood Watch program included lobster on a “red list” of food consumers should avoid. Seafood Watch cited the industry’s impact on the endangered North Atlantic right whale as the reason for the designation. The suit argued that reasoning was not only false but has caused substantial harm to the plaintiffs and the Maine lobster brand.