Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation — $152.2 Million Settlement, Payments Issued, No. 15-MD-2670

If you filed a claim in the tuna price-fixing settlement, checks and PayPal payments started going out September 8, 2026 — years after the case was filed and just months after the last piece of it cleared court approval. If you never filed, the window to do that closed December 31, 2024, and it isn’t reopening. Here’s exactly where things stand.

Packaged Seafood Products Settlement — Key Facts

Settlement Amount	$152.2 million total (COSI $16.2M + StarKist $130M + Lion Companies $6M)
Payments Issued	September 8, 2026
Claim Deadline	December 31, 2024 — passed, no new claims accepted
Who Qualified	Consumers in 29 states + DC + Guam who bought canned/pouched tuna under 40 oz., for personal use, June 1, 2011 – July 1, 2015
Estimated Payout	Pro-rata based on volume claimed; no payment issued below $5
Proof Required	No — claims could be filed without receipts
Settlement Status	Approved, funded, and now in distribution
Court & Case Number	U.S. District Court, Southern District of California — No. 15-MD-2670 DMS (MSB)
Law Alleged	Federal antitrust law and state unfair competition/consumer protection statutes
Administrator	JND Legal Administration
Official Claim Site	tunaendpurchasersettlement.com (claims closed; site still handles payment questions)
Last Updated	September 9, 2026

What Was the Packaged Seafood (Tuna) Price-Fixing Case About?

Filed in 2016 and formally known as In Re: Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, this case accused the three biggest names in canned tuna — StarKist, Bumble Bee, and Chicken of the Sea — of secretly agreeing to keep prices artificially high between 2011 and 2015. It wasn’t just a civil theory: former Bumble Bee CEO Chris Lischewski was criminally convicted and sentenced to 40 months in prison for his role in the price-fixing conspiracy, and StarKist itself pleaded guilty to a related federal antitrust charge. That criminal record is part of why this civil case settled rather than going to a jury — the conduct wasn’t seriously in dispute by the time settlement talks got serious.

What Does “COSI” Mean in the Tuna Settlement?

If you’ve seen “COSI” on the settlement paperwork and wondered what it means: COSI stands for Chicken of the Sea International — specifically Tri-Union Seafoods LLC, doing business as Chicken of the Sea International, along with its parent Thai Union Group PCL. COSI was the first of the three tuna makers to settle, reaching its deal back in 2021 and getting court approval in July 2022, worth $16.2 million. That COSI settlement became the foundation the rest of the case was built on — if you already filed a claim under the COSI settlement, you didn’t need to file again when the StarKist and Lion settlements were added to the same fund.

That’s why you’ll see the $152.2 million figure described as one combined Total Settlement Fund: it’s COSI’s $16.2 million, plus StarKist’s $130 million, plus $6 million from the Lion Companies (Bumble Bee’s former private-equity owners — Bumble Bee itself went bankrupt in 2019 and was dismissed from the case, which is why Bumble Bee never pays directly even though its products are covered).

Did I Get Paid? What to Do If Your Check Hasn’t Arrived

Payments for approved claims went out September 8, 2026, either as a mailed check or to the PayPal address you provided on your claim form. A few things worth knowing right now:

• If your claim totaled less than $5, no payment was issued — that money stays in the fund rather than going out. That’s not an error.
• If you moved since you filed and a mailed check hasn’t shown up, contact JND Legal Administration directly with your full name, claim number, and current and former address to request a reissue.
• You cannot switch a mailed check to PayPal after the fact — but if your PayPal address changed, you can request a mailed check instead.
• Checks are typically only valid for 60 days from the issue date. If yours goes stale, that’s the same reissue process — don’t just let it sit.
• If a large share of checks go uncashed after that window, class counsel — not you — decides what happens to the leftover money, usually either a further distribution or a donation to a consumer-protection fund at the University of San Diego.

That $5 cutoff and the 60-day check window are the two details most people miss, and they’re the two most likely reasons your payment looks smaller than expected or hasn’t landed yet.

Is It Too Late to File a Claim?

Yes. The claim deadline was December 31, 2024, and the Court granted final approval of the last two settlements (StarKist and Lion) on November 22, 2024. There’s no late-filing option and no new opt-out window — those closed at the same time. If you never filed and never opted out of the earlier COSI settlement, you’re bound by the outcome but won’t receive a payment.

How Much Did Consumers Actually Get?

Payments were calculated pro rata — meaning the size of your check depended on how many cans or pouches you claimed and how many other people filed valid claims, not a flat per-person amount. Earlier estimates from class counsel put a typical payment around $24.50 for roughly 200 cans claimed, or about $0.12 per can — but your actual payment depended on the final claim count once the window closed. Attorneys’ fees, approved at 33% of the total settlement, plus administration costs, came out of the $152.2 million before any of it reached consumers.

Were Businesses Covered Too?

Yes, but through separate settlements you won’t find on the consumer site. Businesses that bought tuna directly from the manufacturers (not through a retailer) fall under the Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs track — StarKist settled that piece for $38.65 million, with payments issued in the first quarter of 2026. A third group, Commercial Food Preparer Plaintiffs — restaurants, delis, and other businesses that bought foodservice-size cans (40 oz. or larger) through distributors like Sysco, US Foods, Sam’s Club, or Costco — had its own settlement and claim deadline, which closed August 30, 2024. If you’re a business rather than an individual consumer, you’re likely looking at one of those two tracks instead of the one covered here.

Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation — Full Timeline

Milestone	Date
Lawsuit filed	May 2016
Class of End Payer Plaintiffs certified	July 2019
Bumble Bee bankruptcy, dismissed from case	November 2019
Former Bumble Bee CEO Chris Lischewski sentenced	2020
COSI settlement reached	January 2021
Ninth Circuit affirms class certification	April 8, 2022
COSI settlement approved	July 2022
U.S. Supreme Court declines review	November 14, 2022
StarKist and Lion settlements reached	2023
Commercial Food Preparer claim deadline	August 30, 2024
Consumer (End Purchaser) objection deadline	November 8, 2024
StarKist and Lion settlements approved at Fairness Hearing	November 22, 2024
Consumer claim filing deadline	December 31, 2024
Direct Purchaser (business) payments issued	Q1 2026
Consumer (End Purchaser) payments issued	September 8, 2026

Packaged Seafood Settlement — Frequently Asked Questions

What is the packaged seafood products antitrust litigation?

It’s a price-fixing lawsuit, No. 15-MD-2670, accusing StarKist, Bumble Bee, and Chicken of the Sea of conspiring to inflate canned and pouched tuna prices from 2011 to 2015.

What is the COSI settlement?

COSI refers to Chicken of the Sea International (Tri-Union Seafoods and Thai Union Group). Its $16.2 million settlement, approved in 2022, was the first piece of the combined $152.2 million fund.

Can I still file a claim in the packaged seafood settlement?

No. The deadline was December 31, 2024, and it has passed with no extension or reopening.

When were settlement payments sent?

September 8, 2026, for approved consumer claims. Business claims under the separate Direct Purchaser settlement were paid earlier, in Q1 2026.

Why didn’t I get a payment if I filed a claim?

If your calculated payment came out under $5, no check was issued for it — that’s built into the settlement’s distribution plan, not a mistake.

Do I need a lawyer to get my payment?

No. Class Counsel, Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, represents the class automatically, and you don’t pay them anything out of pocket — their fee comes out of the settlement fund.

Is this the same as the StarKist settlement I’ve heard about separately?

Yes — StarKist’s $130 million is the largest single piece of this $152.2 million combined fund, along with $16.2 million from COSI and $6 million from the Lion Companies (Bumble Bee’s former owners).

Sources Used in This Article

• JND Legal Administration — Official Tuna End Purchaser Settlement site, Home, Key Dates, and FAQ pages, accessed September 9, 2026: https://www.tunaendpurchasersettlement.com/
• SeafoodSource — “Court issues order to disburse USD 152.2 million related to tuna price-fixing lawsuits,” July 2026: https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/court-issues-order-to-disburse-usd-152-2-million-related-to-tuna-price-fixing-lawsuits
• Law360 — Case coverage, In Re: Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation: https://www.law360.com/cases/5669c45555c6a67923000001/articles
• Official Direct Purchaser settlement site (for the business-side track referenced above): https://www.tunadirectpurchasercase.com/

Related reading on AllAboutLawyer.com: Link back to your own prior coverage of this case for the pre-payment context and the criminal side of the story (Lischewski sentencing, StarKist’s guilty plea) rather than re-explaining that history here — that keeps the update focused on what’s new.

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, legal content researcher and founder of AllAboutLawyer.com. All facts verified against the official settlement administrator’s website (JND Legal Administration), SeafoodSource’s court reporting, and Law360’s case docket summary, as of September 9, 2026. Last Updated: September 9, 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws vary by state and individual circumstances differ. For advice about your specific situation, consult a qualified attorney.