NEW YORK CITY (WAVY) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Omega Protein and its fishing operation in the Chesapeake Bay Ocean Harvesters that claimed they were controlled by a foreign company. Previously: Lawsuit claims Omega violates federal law by sending Bay profits to Canada The lawsuit was filed three years ago in the Southern District of New York, where a judge dismissed the claim earlier this month. It was filed under the False Claims Act, which permits people to sue on behalf of the federal government if they allege that the government is being defrauded. Cooke Seafood of New Brunswick, Canada purchased Omega in 2017. The lawsuit claimed that the owners of Omega and Ocean Harvesters were Canadian citizens and controlled the Bay operation. Company spokesman Ben Landry said that was shown to be false in the more than 100 pages of documents filed as required during Cooke's purchase transaction. "The owners are U.S.-born. They're Americans citizens, and it's a U.S. company headquartered in Virginia, and so hopefully this puts that argument to bed," Landry said. "They were born in southeast Georgia, and they have full citizenship to own U.S. companies and property." Omega is the last one standing of what were once about a dozen menhaden reduction fisheries on the Chesapeake Bay. Menhaden is rich in high protein oil that omega converts into food supplements, pet food additives and other products. It's an anchor employer in the Northern Neck. "Between Omega Protein and Ocean Harvesters, there's right around 270 employees there in the region," Landry said. "Ninety-eight percent of those employees are in either Lancaster or Northumberland County, so that's incredibly focused right there in the Northern Neck. Ocean Harvesters averages about nine boats in the Bay each day during the season. The company said it will roam outside Bay waters into the ocean depending on where the fish are on a given day. Environmentalists have complained that Ocean Harvesters has overfished the menhaden supply in the Bay, and net breaks have led to fish kills on Bay beaches. The most recent assessment found that menhaden were not depleted. The next one is expected this fall.