LOS ANGELES — After a yearslong investigation, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Dudley Market violated state fishing laws, and staff, fishermen and businesses associated with the popular Venice restaurant and wine bar were hit with $150,000 in penalties and court fees.

Dudley Market is known for its fresh seafood, and customers come for its oysters, crudo, sashimi, fried fish collars and fish tacos just off the Boardwalk. Owner Conner Mitchell, former manager Taylor Grant, boat owner Gilmer Grant and boat captain Cody Martin were all involved in catching local fish such as yellowtail, rockfish and Pacific tuna.

Now some have been barred from commercial fishing, according to prosecutors in L.A. and Santa Barbara. Along with the state, which announced results of its inquiry on Monday, they said that staff and the restaurant’s fishermen repeatedly broke laws in 2020 and 2021, including fishing without required licenses, harvesting fish in conservation areas and “unlawfully selling seafood while advertising its products as traceable, sustainable and lawfully sourced.”

Mitchell, who also sells seafood to other L.A. restaurants, says he was learning a complicated system of local, state and federal fishing regulations at the time and that he has operated in compliance since 2021.

Caught fish were also not reported correctly, resulting in what one state spokesperson characterized as “an under-the-table operation … they were acting as though they were privately fishing, and not commercial fishing.” The distinction between smaller personal use versus high commercial volume is significant, and reporting catches helps maintain and track marine-life population.

“These businesses lured the public into thinking they were caring for our precious resources, when in reality, their fish was unlawfully sourced,” L.A. County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a news release.

Mitchell and his businesses, Dudley Street Oyster Bar and Shark Bite Fish Co., were ordered to pay $58,226.25 in civil penalties, $15,000 to the Fish and Game Preservation Fund and $1,773.75 in court costs and fees last month.

He says Dudley Market has fished, sold and advertised its seafood in compliance ever since learning it was in violation.

Former manager and business partner Taylor Grant, who also co-managed tandem fishing company Shark Bite Fish Co., was ordered to pay $40,000 in civil penalties and $10,000 to the Fish and Game Preservation Fund last July. Fisherman Martin, who supplied fish to the restaurant, was ordered to pay $8,000 in civil penalties and $2,000 to the Fish and Game Preservation Fund last September. Gilmer Grant, who owned a fishing vessel used for Dudley Market in 2020, was ordered to pay $10,000 in civil penalties and $5,000 to the Fish and Game Preservation Fund last August.

Martin and Taylor Grant have lost their California commercial fishing licenses indefinitely, while Gilmer Grant is now prohibited from owning or operating any commercial fishing vessel in the state.

“We did not have all of the required permits, licenses and reporting processes in place,” Mitchell wrote in a direct message. “When those issues were brought to our attention, we worked cooperatively with regulators, corrected them promptly, and have operated in compliance ever since. … We’re proud of the fishing and restaurant business we’ve built, the transparency we bring to our work, and the fact that we’ve spent the last five years doing things the right way.”

Dudley Market debuted under the management of Mitchell and former chef, Jesse Barber, in 2015, and closed the following year. Mitchell reopened the restaurant as an owner in 2019 with a larger wine program, a neighborhood-restaurant feel and a focus on line-caught seafood — some of which he helped catch and source himself.

Mitchell learned to fish after breaking his arm, because as a lifelong surfer, he wanted to find a way to get back on the water while healing. When he reopened the restaurant he began serving local seafood: line-caught tuna, raw oysters, halibut fillets, kanpachi crudo.

“I quickly realized while catching fish locally that this fish tastes better than so many of the things we’re putting in an airplane and importing,” Mitchell told The Times in a 2024 interview. “I realized the more I learned about our fisheries, the more mind-blowing it was to me that anyone cares more about fish from overseas than right from right out here in the beautiful Pacific.”

As part of its settlement, Dudley Market now includes a disclaimer on the restaurant’s homepage: “We falsely advertised the Dudley Market as source (sic) of fully sustainable, transparent and lawfully procured fish” and that it violated state and federal commercial-fishing laws.

_____

©2026 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.