LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Aldi is defending how fishermen catch the tuna it sells and is asking a federal judge to throw out a class action lawsuit over longline fishing.
The grocery store chain filed a motion to dismiss Nov. 28 in Chicago federal court as it fights claims its dolphin-safe logo is misleading to shoppers. The suit, filed by plaintiff Elizabeth Henriquez on Aug. 25 in Los Angeles federal court, says the "grim reality" of tuna fishing is that thousands of dolphins and other marine life are seriously injured or killed each year.
At issue is the practice of longline fishing, which involves lines that extend over 60 miles with multiple hooks that can catch birds and other marine mammals, the suit says.
But the practice is permitted by the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act, Aldi says.
"Plaintiff tries to manufacture a heightened promise by alleging that, through the mere use of the Dolphin Safe logo on Aldi’s Products, Aldi is making sustainability claims about alleged impacts of certain tuna fishing gear on marine mammal populations or human rights in the commercial fishing industry, generally," the motion says.
"However, the FAC does not plausibly allege Aldi’s use of the Dolphin Safe logo conveys any type of sustainability claim or heightened Dolphin Safe promises, or that Aldi otherwise engaged in any long-term, pervasive advertising campaign concerning Dolphin Safe tuna.
"Plaintiff’s overexpansive stretch of the label’s meaning is not reasonable."
Pole-and-line fishing only accounts for 8% of tuna caught, the motion says, and the lawsuit fails to allege any dolphins were killed or seriously injured during the fishing for tuna sold to Aldi.
Federal law allows for a dolphin-safe label if it can be shown no gear during longline or purse seine fishing was intentionally deployed on dolphins or used to encircle them. Chain-of-custody records allow the National Marine Fisheries Service to track dolphin-safe tuna, which is kept separate from non-dolphin-safe.
"Longline fishing has had a significant harmful impact on marine life," the suit says. "For example, it is estimated that between 1994 and 2002, the Hawaiian pelagic longline fleet resulted in the deaths and serious injuries of 48 whales and dolphins per year.
"In 2016, the Hawaii and American Samoa longline fisheries were considered responsible for injuring 89 out of 101 mammals that interacted with fisheries in these locations."
The Clarkson Law Firm is pursuing the case.