VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – Commercial fishing boat captain and owner of McHenry Fisheries Inc. William Porter McHenry has settled charges that he illegally dumped toxic waste into state waters from a squid-fishing vessel in December of last year.
According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, McHenry was ordered to pay $8,444.69 for environmental restoration, $6,555.31 in penalties and investigative costs, and $1,889.39 for unfair business practices as part of the settlement.
McHenry owns and operates McHenry Fisheries Inc. which operates a 67-foot commercial fishing vessel -the Sea Pearl- stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office in a press release Monday.
The Sea Pearl courtesy of the Ventura County District Attorney's OfficeOn December 6, 2024, authorities with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife watched the Sea Pearl dump a byproduct of the squid fishing process just past the Ventura Harbor break wall without ever reaching state waters explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
During the squid fishing process, squids are caught with seine nets and then placed into the fish holds of the vessel with saltwater.
A depiction of the purse seine techniqueAs the squid die in the holds of the ship, they release ink with high levels of ammonia which turns the saltwater dark and the toxic mixture -known as 'stick water'- is classified as a harmful substance detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Squid are then offloaded at onshore facilities and the leftover stick water is returned to the fishing vessel's hold for proper disposal at least three nautical miles offshore shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
An investigation of the Sea Pearl showed that it offloaded 206,298 pounds of market squid at the Ventura Harbor before receiving back the associated stick water from onshore tanks operated by Silver Bay Seafoods on December 6, 2024, noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, officers with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) then watched the Sea Pearl head past the Ventura Harbor break wall, dump its stick water, and turn back toward shore without ever reaching state waters.
A CDFW warden then boarded the Sea Pearl to inspect the ship's fish holds and commercial fishing license and that inspection revealed that three of the Sea Pearl's four fish holds were completely empty and only a small amount of stick water remained in the fourth fish hold detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
The image below, from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, shows the almost empty fish holds aboard the Sea Pearl.
McHenry complied with the CDFW warden's request to view the Sea Pearl's navigation track logs and the data confirmed that the vessel never made it beyond the border of state waters which are about three nautical miles offshore explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
The image below, courtesy of the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, shows the data collected at the scene regarding the Sea Pearl's excursion after offloading its catch.
Squid boat captain fined for illegally dumping fishing wastewater off Ventura Harbor News Channel 3-12.
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