July 15, 2024
Virginia menhaden fleet files motion to dismiss lawsuit
Purse seine boats gather a net with menhaden. Virginia menhaden firms filed a motion to dismiss a $2 billion lawsuit against Canadian-based seafood giant Cooke Inc. Larry Chowning photo.
Virginia-based Ocean Fleet Services and Ocean Harvesters filed a “motion to dismiss” a $2 billion lawsuit against seafood giant Cooke Inc. of New Brunswick, Canada, that claimed the firm violated U.S. foreign ownership laws with the acquisition in 2017 of Omega Protein in Reedville, Va.
The lawsuit, filed on July of 2021 by plaintiffs W. Benson Chiles and Chris Manthey and unsealed in April 2024, alleges Cooke Inc., Omega Protein, Alpha Vessel Co. Holdings Inc., Ocean Fleet Services, Ocean…
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Larry Chowning is a writer for the Southside Sentinel in Urbanna, Va., a regular contributor to National Fisherman, and the author of numerous books.
