A federal judge in Miami has approved an $85 million settlement, resolving a class action antitrust lawsuit against several major Norwegian fisheries. The lawsuit, brought by direct purchasers of farm-raised Atlantic salmon, accused the companies of conspiring to fix the price of the fish. The core allegation was that the fisheries manipulated a Nasdaq benchmark index tied to the daily “spot” price of salmon in Oslo to rig the global market. The settling companies, including Mowi ASA, Grieg ASA, and SalMar ASA, denied wrongdoing but agreed to the settlement to avoid the cost of litigation. Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga approved the agreement, which was praised by the purchasers’ co-lead counsel, Peter Prieto of Podhurst Orseck PA and Chris Lebsock of Hausfeld LLP.
