Tuna-canning company Bumble Bee Foods must pay a $25 million fine after pleading guilty to conspiring with competitors to fix prices, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday.
The company will also cooperate with an ongoing antitrust investigation into the packaged seafood industry, the federal agency said. If Bumble Bee Foods were to be sold, the fine would increase to $81.5 million.
The Justice Department said in December that Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea were abandoning a planned merger after the department raised concerns that the transaction would harm competition.
Two Bumble Bee executives pleaded guilty to price-fixing charges last year and have agreed to cooperate with the federal investigation.
According to a report by ABC News, Bumble Bee Foods general counsel Jill Irvin said Bumble Bee hired a chief compliance officer last fall and recently reformed its guidelines and policies.
"The company has taken this matter very seriously and fully cooperated with the DOJ from the start of the investigation," Irvin said. "We accept full responsibility for needing to earn back any lost trust in our company and will do so by acting with integrity and transparency in every way we operate our business."