Clearwater Seafoods will retain its Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for its eastern Canadian lobster fishery, despite being found guilty of gross violations of Atlantic fisheries regulations in the fall of 2018. In2-18 Clearwater plead guilty to storing 3800 lobster traps on the bottom of the ocean in 2017. The incident triggered a request by NGO SeaChoice ( a Make Stewardship Count coalition member)to the MSC for an expedited audit of the fishery.