Court Dismisses Part of Gorton’s “Sustainably Sourced” Lawsuit

A Massachusetts federal court has granted a motion to dismiss a request for injunctive relief but allowed to continue other claims alleging that Gorton’s Inc. misleads consumers by marketing its tilapia products as “sustainably sourced.” Spindel v. Gorton’s Inc., No. 22-10599 (D. Mass., entered August 24, 2022). The court noted that in a hearing, Gorton’s acknowledged “that some of its tilapia comes from fish farms in China but contended that it follows industry best practices in its sourcing from China.”

“To the extent plaintiffs are casting a wider net in arguing that only tilapia raised in the wild are sustainable, they will come up empty,” the court found. “However, Plaintiffs do assert a plausible (albeit hotly disputed) claim that Gorton’s tilapia are sourced, in part, from unsustainable Chinese fish farms with ‘environmentally destructive and inhumane’ practices.” Accordingly, the court denied the motion to dismiss these claims.