Florida seafood exec faces 10 years for crab claw price fixing

A Florida seafood company executive has pleaded guilty to conspiring with competitors to fix the prices he paid to local fishers, an effort that impacted more than $8 million in wholesale fish and cut the pay of hundreds of fishers, the Department of Justice said.

Dennis Dopico, vice president of an unnamed Miami company that processed stone crab claws and spiny lobsters, admitted to making a pact with competitors to match the prices they paid for fish, rather than raise them, the DOJ said. The group carried out the price fixing scheme between 2023 and 2025, the DOJ said.