February 17, 2025

11 thoughts on “Federal Court Unseals Lawsuit Alleging Massive Fraud by Cooke Inc. (Omega Protein) 

  1. Seems to be a distinct lack of information regarding what foreign entities are involved in this. I find that curiously interesting and would think it an important component of understanding who is doing what to us now.

    If the Companies require listing by a government agency, why not just delist them until and if they can satisfactorily prove they belong on the list? Why is the burden of proof on taxpayers to pay for?

    1. Cooke Inc. is the parent corporation based out of New Brunswick, Canada. Their wholly owned and controlled subsidiary Omega Protein controls the processing plant in Reedville. The fleet which on paper is owned by Ocean Harvesters, an company with American papers has their vessels and their offices based on Cooke Inc./Omega property in Virginia. The allocation is that Omega Protein and Cooke employees have full control over the actions and operations of the fleet. Under their arrangements, if proven, Ocean Harvesters should never have been granted a license to fish in American waters. The taxpayers are not footing the bill for this watch-dog suit. The expenses are being covered by private citizens. The Federal government after a 2 year review of the situation granted the suit authority to go forward. If the suit is decided favorable, then the most likely outcome will be that the companies involved will be fined and the license revoked.

  2. Omega Pays our Politicians Well for allowing the Rape of our Bay. Because Payola works. Developers do the same thing.
    I knew of such shenanigans in Virginia Beach years ago and more recently here on the Shore.
    Enough money will buy most anything, anyplace.
    Sad

  3. Yes it does, but pet food is just a fraction of the business. The bulk of the business is for converting the menhaden into fish farm feed for use in Cooke’s fish farms around the globe. That’s why they bought Omega.

  4. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) a federally funded and sponsored entity responsible for setting quotas for Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay and Ocean set 112 million lbs for the Xhesapeake Bay

    They admit they have no science on the Bay ecosystem to support that quota – they have no idea how much Menhaden is needed to support the ecosystem and iconic species like Striped Bass and Osprey in high salinity areas

    Both Striped Bass and nestingOsprey are in collapse in the Bay

    So we have what appears to be a foreign company granted a quota based only on how
    Much they catch from the largest estuary in America that fuels the economy of the Eastern Shore

  5. “Yo Rinty” is is what Rusty shouted on almost every episode Of The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin when calling his dog. This was in the early 50’s.
    Long before “ebonics”.

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