City Vows to ‘Put a Lid on Squid’ Spills

Police have begun citing truckers who slop squid juice onto the city’s roadways.

“Numerous complaints” from residents about small spills on Ventura and Hueneme roads culminated with the issue coming before the City Council on Wednesday night, Police Sgt. Ken Dobbe said.

As of midday Wednesday, officers had issued three citations to drivers whose trucks allegedly spilled slippery and foul-smelling water used in packing freshly caught squid on streets near Channel Islands Harbor, he said.

“If you just drive down the street--so much of it’s soaked into the pavement, it smells like you’re on a fishing boat,” Dobbe said. “We don’t intentionally want to harass commerce out of [the harbor], but since it obviously has become a problem out there, we have to address it.”

State law makes it illegal to spill anything other than clear water or feathers from live birds on roads, Dobbe wrote in a memo to police officers. Squid juice, on the other hand, is dark and emits a “distinctive odor,” he said.

The juice apparently sloshes from open metal containers on trucks used by the five companies that ship squid from the port.

“We’re going to put a lid on squid,” City Manager Dick Velthoen said before the council meeting.

A letter from longtime Port Hueneme resident Robert Brant expressing concern that the “slimy water” could cause a traffic accident prompted the police action and council discussion.

Port of Hueneme officials say they will cooperate with the city to solve the problem once the culprits are identified.