A group of stone crab fishers and companies in Florida have launched a class action lawsuit in the wake of a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment for price-fixing in the stone crab and spiny lobster industries.
The DOJ filed the suit in September alleging a number of persons, including defendant Dennis Dopico, knowingly fixed the prices paid to fishermen for both stone crab claws and spiny lobsters. According to the indictment, Dopico and co-conspirators from at least four other companies fixed the prices between the periods of July 2023 through at least April 2025.
Soon after the lawsuit was filed, Dopico entered a plea agreement with the DOJ, agreeing to plead guilty to the crime and fully cooperate with the DOJ in exchange for a downgrade of the offense level of the crime and a reduced sentencing.
“As the defendant admits, his price fixing conspiracy unfairly took money out of the pockets of hardworking fishermen for years,” Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said in a release announcing the plea deal. “The Antitrust Division and its law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to ensure that hard working Americans are paid competitively for an honest day’s work.”
In the plea agreement Dopico revealed the crime involved roughly USD 8 million (EUR 6.9 million) in product over the period, a crime which could carry as much as 10 years in prison and a USD 1 million (EUR ) fine.
Soon after Dopico reached the plea agreement with the DOJ, multiple fishers filed the class action lawsuit against the company claiming damages due to the criminal act.
Two companies, Paradise Tails and Reel Faith Fishing, and multiple individual fisherman launched the class-action suit alleging Dopico’s price-fixing conspiracy suppressed prices across the broader region during a time period experiencing a decade-long decline in statewide stone crab landings which created a supply crisis that should have resulted in high prices.
“This decline, driven by factors including warming waters and environmental pressures, was so significant that state regulators intervened,” the complaint states. “This well-documented supply shortage should have resulted in record-high dockside prices for fishermen as a basic function of supply and demand.”
The complaint claims that when “competitive forces briefly prevailed” the scarcity of stone crab claws drove prices as high as USD 50.00 (EUR 43.25) per pound. The complaint claims Dopico’s price-fixing conspiracy heavily suppressed those prices, keeping them low despite supply constraints.
“The conspiracy imposed an artificial price ceiling on stone crabs and spiny lobsters, forcing fishermen to sell their catch at suppressed prices dictated by the cartel, thereby severing them from the benefits of their own region’s flourishing market,” the complaint states. “This scheme systematically destroyed fishermen's profit margins across the state.”
The lawsuit claims fishermen were underpaid “tens of millions” across the state due to the price-fixing conspiracy.
The complaint seeks the court award threefold damages to the companies and fishermen who were affected by the price-fixing conspiracy.
“Defendants’ collusion enabled them to enjoy unjust profits and artificially widened margins at the expense of Plaintiffs and the Class, causing Plaintiffs and the Class to receive materially less for the sale of stone crab claws and spiny lobsters than they otherwise would have received had Defendants acted lawfully and fairly,” the complaint states. “It is unjust and inequitable for Defendants to have enriched themselves in this manner at the expense of Plaintiffs and the Class, and equity and good conscience require Defendants to make restitution.”
