A commercial fishing company has agreed to pay a $100,000 settlement after one of its vessels ran aground off Channel Islands National Park in 2022, spilling more than 1,000 gallons of fuel and oil into the ocean.
Ocean Angel VI LLC, the Watsonville-based commercial fishing company that owned and operated the wrecked squid fishing vessel Speranza Mari, reached the settlement with the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office following an investigation into the December 2022 crash.
According to the civil complaint filed in August, the vessel ran aground on Santa Cruz Island at about 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 15, 2022, after its captain, Jason Lapeyri, fell asleep while navigating toward Chinese Harbor. Lapeyri later told California Department of Fish and Wildlife wardens that he had slept for only about three hours from Dec. 13 to Dec. 15, and that his exhaustion led to the crash. The complaint also noted that Ocean Angel VI had no specific policy governing how much sleep its captains needed before operating vessels.
The grounding punctured the vessel’s hull, releasing approximately 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 300 gallons of hydraulic fluid into the ocean. An oil sheen stretched about a mile across the water, and several birds in the area were found covered in oil, according to the complaint…