Mrs. Paul’s, Van De Kamp’s Fillets, Fish Sticks Sourced Via Methods that Harm Marine Life, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action alleges the “certified sustainable” promise on packages of certain Conagra Brands seafood products is false and misleading given that the fillets and fish sticks are sourced via destructive industrial methods that harm marine life and ocean habitats. 

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The 48-page lawsuit says Conagra “turns a blind eye” to the harmful fishing practices used to source its Mrs. Paul’s- and Van De Kamp’s-brand fillets and fish sticks, notwithstanding the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) “blue stamp” that adorns the products’ packaging. Per the case, the MSC blue stamp itself is not all it’s cracked up to be given that the group, in an apparent conflict of interest, “allows its members to obtain their certification with a paid membership.” 

Although the MSC’s standards promise that fish populations and ecosystems will be protected, MSC-certified fisheries instead “indisputably [defy] [their] promise of sustainability,” including by suffocating and crushing sea lions, sharks and whales caught in fishing nets that are hauled onto fishing boats; excessively capturing or harming non-targeted prohibited species, such as snow crabs; and contributing overall to the failure of marine life populations.

“No reasonable consumer would believe the Products to be ‘sustainable’ if they knew of these fishing practices utilized in sourcing the Products,” the complaint states, alleging Conagra “knew or should have known” that the fillets and fish sticks at issue are sourced in violation of MSC’s own standards. 

As the suit tells it, it “shocks the conscience” to learn that Conagra leans on “the hollow certification” provided by MSC, who the defendant “knows or should know blatantly violates its own standards and puts the very ecosystem MSC feigns to protect in serious danger.” 

The filing says Conagra “conceals the use of harmful fishing practices” used for sourcing its products, thereby inducing reasonable consumers to “become unwitting participants in the very environmental crisis they attempt to avoid” by paying a premium for Mrs. Paul’s and Van De Kamp’s fillets and fish sticks. 

“Had Plaintiffs and Class members been aware that Conagra’s fishing techniques used to source the Products are not sustainable, Plaintiffs and Class Members would not have purchased the Products or would not have paid more for the Products,” the case contends. 

According to the lawsuit, the Federal Trade Commission has cautioned companies against using claims such as “sustainable” on product packaging because it is “highly unlikely that [they] can substantiate all reasonable interpretations of these claims.” Further, the FTC has warned that marketers are responsible for substantiating consumers’ “reasonable understanding” of their products’ sustainability claims, the filing shares. 

When buying Mrs. Paul’s and Van De Kamp’s seafood products, reasonable consumers expect that Conagra maintains companywide monitoring so as to uphold the explicit sustainability promises that appear on product packaging, the complaint relays. 

According to the suit, Conagra’s seafood products are harvested in the Bering Sea by Russian fisheries that use pelagic midwater trawls, large nets that utilize a cone-shaped body and closed cod-end to hold fish. Pelagic trawls, which the suit says can be as wide as two football fields and up to 60 yards deep, are generally much larger than bottom trawls, can be towed by one or more boats, and are designed to target fish “in the mid- and surface water,” the MSC’s website states.

The case states that a pelagic trawl is a non-selective method of catching fish, meaning it could capture all marine life, including mammals, within a particular area. This is especially problematic given that “[m]ost marine mammals swim at mid-water depths,” leaving them at a high risk of being caught in the net, the suit relays. 

“These non-target species are called bycatch and often drowned or are crushed by the weight of the other catch that has accumulated on top of them,” the lawsuit states, alleging Russian fisheries used by Conagra “do not have an effective measure in place to protect endangered species, such as Steller sea lions and albatross.” 

The practices by which Conagra seafood products are sourced have contributed to a dramatic decline in the population of snow crabs in the Bering Sea over the last half decade, the case adds. The problem came to a head in 2022 when the snow crab harvest was canceled as a result of the collapse of the snow crab population by billions, the suit relays. 

The lawsuit looks to cover all consumers in the United States who have bought Mrs. Paul’s Crispy Battered Fillets, Crunchy Breaded Fillets, Fish Sticks, Fish Fingers or Beer Battered Fillets or Van De Kamp’s Crispy Battered Fillets, Crunchy Breaded Fillets, Fish Sticks or Beer Battered Fillets within the applicable statute of limitations period.

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