Appeals court dismisses Maine lobstermen defamation case against California aquarium

A federal appeals court has sided with the California-based Monterey Bay Aquarium, which faced a defamation lawsuit from Maine lobstermen and groups representing the state’s industry.

The lobstermen sued three years ago, after the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program stripped the U.S. and Canadian lobster fisheries of their sustainability certifications and urged consumers not to buy lobster.

The aquarium said the fishery poses a threat to the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Maine lobstermen argued that the aquarium made defamatory statements against the lobster fishery that caused them economic harms. The plaintiffs also included Bean Maine Lobster, Inc., the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.

But on Friday, an appeals court disagreed with a district court’s interpretation of the group defamation rule and said that the Maine lobstermen cannot prove harm to their individual businesses.

The justices said the case should return back to a lower court to be dismissed.

Maine lobstermen said their gear has been tied to just a few documented right whale entanglements in recent decades.

But conservationists and federal biologists argue the vast majority of entanglements are undocumented, and tracing entanglements back to a specific fishery is often difficult.

Entanglements from fishing gear and ship strikes are the two biggest threats to the right whale population. There are roughly 380 right whales remaining.