Ban on White Croaker Fishing Made Permanent

The state has made permanent its ban on commercial white croaker fishing off the Palos Verdes Peninsula, a move that some expect to draw challenges from companies accused of dumping toxic chemicals there.

On Tuesday, the state Office of Administrative Law approved a permanent ban on commercial fishing for white croaker within three miles of shore from Point Fermin to Point Vicente.

The ban has been in force on an emergency basis since May 30, when the state imposed it after determining that the tissue of white croaker caught in the area contained unacceptably high levels of cancer-causing contaminants.

Some state officials fear the permanent measure will elicit challenges from corporations named in a federal suit filed in June over disposal of chemical pollutants off the peninsula from the 1940s through the early 1970s.