Bumble Bee Foods is the first corporate defendant in an ongoing seafood industry investigation to plead guilty to one count of conspiring to fix prices of canned and pouched tuna fish, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday.

The San Diego-based company also agreed to pay a $25 million criminal fine that could increase to $81.5 million in the event of the company being sold. Bumble Bee Foods is privately owned by the London private equity firm Lion Capital.