Advocates cannot find solutions to the environmental problems we are facing if we cannot freely speak about the causes. Photo: Shutterstock
February 3, 2026 (Boston, MA) – Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has filed a friend of the court brief in defense of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s right to speak freely about vital environmental issues.
A small group of businesses and associations working within the Maine lobster industry sued the Monterey Bay Aquarium for defamation after it added American lobster to its “red list” of unsustainable seafood choices and encouraged the public to avoid eating lobster caught in the northeast. Their claims that the aquarium is spreading falsehoods and damaging their business are designed to punish the aquarium for speaking out.
“Advocates cannot find solutions to the environmental problems we are facing if we cannot freely speak about the causes,” said Sarah Shahabi, associate attorney at CLF. “Forcing the aquarium to literally pay for daring to organize the public in an effort to save endangered North Atlantic right whales sets a dangerous precedent, for nonprofits and individuals alike. Our right to free speech and the ability to advocate for the things we believe in is at stake.”
Rather than supporting a boycott, CLF supported a new rating for products caught using “on-demand” fishing gear, which is safer for marine mammals. However, CLF has serious concerns about the potential implications of this lawsuit. The Monterey Bay Aquarium did not target the lobster fishery with its rating. It also downgraded 13 other fisheries operating in the U.S. and Canada that use fishing gear with stationary vertical lines. Entanglement in this type of gear is a leading cause of death for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales and poses an existential threat to the species.
“If the court sides with these five plaintiffs, it could chill speech for everyone, sending the message that when powerful parties don’t like what you have to say, they can use their resources to silence you,” added Shahabi.
The lawsuit, Bean Maine Lobster, Inc., et al v. Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation, is in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
CLF’s brief can be read here.
CLF experts are available for further comment.
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