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Fish and Game Laws 
 
 of 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 
 Commissioners on Fisheries and Game.' 
 
 COMMISSIONERS : 
 
 GEORGE W. FIELD, Chairman. 
 GEORGE H. GARFIELD. 
 GEORGE H. GRAHAM. 
 
 Office, Room 158, State House, Boston. 
 Telephone, Haymarket 2700. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 Wright & Potter Printing Co., State Printers, 
 
 18 Post Office Square. 
 
 1911. 
 
v\\\ 
 
 Approved by 
 The State Board of Publication. 
 
i 
 
 <1 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Fish Laws. 
 Authority of Commissioners on Fisheries and 
 
 Game: — page- 
 
 What constitute fisheries laws, .... 
 Appointment of fish and game commissioners, . 'J 
 
 Authority to enforce laws relative to obstructions 
 
 to migratory fish 7 
 
 Authority to enforce laws relative to fish, birds 
 
 and mammals 7 
 
 8 
 8 
 9 
 
 16 
 
 10 
 10 
 
 11 
 11 
 11 
 
 May require display for inspection, 
 
 Can arrest without warrant, . 
 
 Right of search, . . . 
 
 Duties with respect to forest and other fires, 
 
 Pulling down stone walls or fences, 
 
 To regulate brook fishing, .... 
 
 Commissioners' authority to take fish, . 
 
 Fishing permits, 
 
 Investigations, 
 
 Colonizing insect-destroying birds within infested 
 
 regions, 
 
 Protection of material used in investigations, 
 Pollution by waste material, .... 
 
 Fishways: — 
 
 Authority to examine dams and fishways, 
 Notification of dam owners, . 
 Liability of owners, 
 Commissioners can build fishways, 
 Settlement of damages, . 
 Passage over private land, 
 
 11 
 12 
 12 
 
 14 
 14 
 14 
 14 
 15 
 15 
 
 Inspection of Fish: — 
 
 Powers and duties of commissioners, ... 16 
 Publication of returns of inspection of fish, . . 16 
 
IV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Fisheries in Great Ponds: — 
 
 Public rights in great ponds, .... 
 Commissioners may occupy certain ponds, . 
 Introduction of fish into state waters, . 
 Stocking great ponds with food fish, 
 
 Mill Pond, Yarmouth, 
 
 Measurement of ponds, ..... 
 Private ownership of ponds, .... 
 Private ownership of ponds bounded in part by 
 
 public lands, 
 
 Prohibited apparatus for pond fishing, . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 17 
 17 
 18 
 18 
 19 
 19 
 20 
 
 fl 
 
 Fisheries by Riparian Proprie- 
 
 ontrol OF 
 tors: — 
 For cultivation" of fish, . 
 When fish are private property, 
 Penalty for unauthorized fishing, 
 Definition of navigable stream, 
 Governor can fix bounds, 
 Governor can limit fishing, 
 Proprietor's rights, . 
 
 Shad, Herring and Alewives: — 
 
 Prohibits taking herring in Hull and Quincy bays, 
 
 Hingham harbor and parts of Boston harbor by 
 
 means of torches or other artificial light, 
 Also in Lynn harbor or vicinity, . 
 Also in waters of Cohasset, Scituate, Duxbury 
 
 Kingston and Plymouth, 
 Also in the waters of Winthrop, 
 Also in and about Nahant Bay, Beverly harbor 
 
 and Salem Bay, 
 
 Rights of towns and cities, 
 Personal rights, ..... 
 Alewife fishery, Sandwich, 
 Hummock Pond, Nantucket, 
 Fishing in Connecticut River, 
 Fishing in Merrimac River, . 
 Regulation of nets in Merrimac River, . 
 Methods and times of fishing, 
 Rights of lessees in Dukes County, 
 Leasing of Tisbury Great Pond, 
 Authority of officers on Palmer's River, 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 egulation of flshing near flshways, with 
 Nets, and on Connecticut and Merrimac 
 
 Rivers: — 
 On Connecticut River, . 
 On Merrimac River, 
 Net fishing season, Merrimac, 
 Gill net fishing prohibited, 
 Size of mesh, .... 
 Size of seine mesh, . 
 When penalties do not apply, 
 Regulations on Connecticut River 
 Seining restrictions, 
 Restrictions, North River, 
 Fish wardens in certain towns and cities, 
 Liability for neglect to appoint wardens, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 31 
 32 
 32 
 32 
 32 
 32 
 33 
 33 
 33 
 34 
 34 
 34 
 
 Bluefish: — 
 
 In Wellfleet Bay, 
 
 Trout and Salmon: — 
 Trout and salmon, . 
 Screens on the Merrimac, 
 Liability for minors, 
 Public waters only to be stocked, 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 36 
 36 
 
 36 
 
 Pickerel: — 
 Legal size, 
 Apparatus of capture, 
 
 37 
 37 
 
 Black Bass: — 
 Size, 
 
 37 
 
 Smelts: — 
 
 Close season, .... 
 Apparatus allowed, 
 Exceptions in certain counties, 
 Prohibited apparatus, 
 What constitutes evidence, 
 
 Penalties, 
 
 Towns of Weymouth and Braintree may regulate 
 the taking of smelts in the waters of Weymouth 
 Fore river and Weymouth Back river, 
 Right of search, 
 
 38 
 38 
 38 
 38 
 39 
 39 
 
 39 
 41 
 
VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 FOKFEITURE OF FlSH, BOATS, ETC. I — PAGE 
 
 Forfeiture of boats and apparatus, ... 41 
 
 Forfeiture of fish and apparatus, .... 42 
 Duty of superintendents, clerks and others, . 42 
 
 Pike Perch: — 
 
 Prohibits transportation and sale of pike perch 
 caught in certain waters, ... 
 
 42 
 
 Shiners and Sturgeon: — 
 
 Taking shiners for bait, ...... 43 
 
 Taking shiners for bait in Merrimac and Connecti- 
 cut rivers, 44 
 
 Sturgeon nets, 44 
 
 Eels, Clams, Quahaugs and Scallops: — 
 
 Relative to taking scallops, 44 
 
 City and town jurisdiction, 45 
 
 Quahaugs in Eastham, Orleans and Wellfleet, . 46 
 
 Cultivation of shellfish 48 
 
 Planting, cultivating and bedding quahaugs, . 49 
 Planting and cultivating clams and quahaugs in 
 
 the town of Barnstable, 52 
 
 Protection of shellfish in town of Dartmouth, . 53 
 
 Lobsters, Tatjtog and Other Fish: — 
 
 Egg lobsters 
 
 Town officers to enforce preceding section, 
 Legal length of lobsters, .... 
 
 Mutilation unlawful 
 
 Detail of district police, .... 
 
 Right of search, 
 
 Catching of lobsters restricted to residents, 
 
 Commissioners' rights 
 
 Penalty, . . . . , . 
 
 Non-residential prohibition upon taking lobsters 
 
 and fish in Fairhaven, New Bedford, Dartmouth 
 
 and Westport, .... 
 Territorial definition, 
 
 Penalty, 
 
 Transportation from Provincetown, 
 Limitation in Buzzard's Bay, 
 Purchase of egg-bearing lobsters, . 
 
 54 
 55 
 55 
 5& 
 56 
 56 
 56 
 57 
 57 
 
 57 
 58 
 58 
 58 
 59 
 59 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Vll 
 
 Oysters and Other Shellfish: — 
 
 Oysters, 
 
 Town officials may grant permits, 
 Penalties and permits, . 
 Rights of Indians and fishermen, 
 Oyster licenses, 
 Limits of areas, 
 Public hearings, 
 Who can have a license, . 
 Rights of licensee, . 
 Revocation of license, 
 Prohibition of night fishing, . 
 
 Penalties, 
 
 Trespass forbidden, 
 
 Pollution, .... 
 
 Taking from contaminated waters of clams and 
 
 quahaugs for bait, 
 
 Penalties, 
 
 A board of shellfish commissioners 
 
 ford and Fairhaven, 
 Shellfish for bait, . 
 Protection of shellfish, Edgartown, 
 
 for 
 
 New 
 
 Bed 
 
 PAGE 
 
 60 
 60 
 60 
 61 
 61 
 61 
 62 
 62 
 62 
 62 
 63 
 63 
 
 Regulation of Fish Weirs, Nets, Purse and 
 
 Sweep Seines: — 
 Authority to construct, .... 
 
 Penalty for injury, 
 
 Penalty for non-authorized construction, 
 
 Statistical returns of fishing, . 
 
 Close time for net fishing, 
 
 Taking of fish in Lynn harbor, 
 
 The taking of flounders and other ground fish by 
 
 certain apparatus in the vicinity of Pemberton 
 
 point and Pig rock prohibited, . 
 Beam trawling in Boston harbor prohibited 
 Traps prohibited in Buzzard's Bay, 
 Nets prohibited in Buzzard's Bay, 
 
 Penalties, 
 
 When nets are nuisances, 
 
 Fishing rights in Buzzard's Bay, . 
 
 Limits of Buzzard's Bay, 
 
 Restrictions, Edgartown and Cottage City, 
 
Vlll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Regulation op Fish Weirs, etc. — concluded. 
 Restrictions, Barnstable and Mashpee, 
 Restrictions, Pleasant Bay, Orleans, 
 Restrictions, Westport, . 
 Fish wardens, Westport, 
 Fish wardens, Edgartown, 
 Regarding eel bait, Edgartown, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 77 
 
 79 
 79 
 
 General Provisions: — 
 
 Penalty for robbing pots, trawls, etc., ... 80 
 Apparatus for taking fish which frequent fresh 
 
 water, 80 
 
 For the better protection of fish, . . . .81 
 
 Shellfish constables, 81 
 
 Time of prosecutions, 81 
 
 Duties of municipal officers, ..... 82 
 Disposition of fines under the laws relating to 
 
 fisheries, birds, animals and game, ... 82 
 
 Special statutes not repealed, .... 82 
 
 Reward for killing seals abolished, ... 83 
 
 Kelp and seaweed, S3 
 
 Game Laws. 
 
 For the Preservation of Certain Birds and 
 Animals: — 
 Unnaturalized, foreign-born persons must procure 
 
 licenses to hunt, 84 
 
 Non-resident hunters must procure licenses to 
 
 hunt, S5 
 
 Registration of resident hunters, .... 88 
 Licensing and registration of hunters and disposi- 
 tion of the license fees, 90 
 
 Lord's Day, close season, ..... 95 
 
 Governor may proclaim close season in times of 
 
 drought, ........ 95 
 
 Ruffed grouse and woodcock, .... 96 
 
 Quail, 97 
 
 Gray, European or Hungarian Partridge, . . 99 
 
 Loons and eagles protected, 100 
 
 Heath hen, 100 
 
 Reservation on Martha's Vineyard for birds, . 101 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 IX 
 
 For the Preservation of Certain Birds and 
 
 Animals — continued. 
 
 Sale of prairie chickens, 
 
 Protection and importation of wild turkeys, 
 
 Wood or summer duck, 
 
 State reservations are refuges for birds and game, 
 Establishment of state bird and game preserves 
 
 and the protection and propagation of wild 
 
 birds and quadrupeds, 
 Ducks, swans, geese, brant, . 
 Shooting of certain wild fowl, 
 Bag limit, black ducks, .... 
 Wild ducks and geese in Dukes County, 
 Pursuit and shooting of wild fowl in certain waters 
 
 of Edgartown, 
 
 Hunting wild ducks or geese in Dukes County, 
 Use of live ducks for decoys prohibited in Nan 
 
 tucket, 
 
 Upland plover, wild pigeons, gulls and terns, 
 
 Protection of herons and bitterns, . 
 
 Shore, marsh and beach birds, 
 
 Shore and marsh birds can be sold only durin 
 
 open season, .... 
 
 Birds of prey, 
 
 Bodies or feathers of certain birds, 
 Protection of homing pigeons, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 102 
 103 
 103 
 103 
 
 County 
 
 made 
 
 power boats 
 
 Special game laws for Bristo 
 
 form with General Laws, 
 Gray squirrels, 
 Hares and rabbits, . 
 Use of traps, snares, ferrets 
 
 illegal, .... 
 Snaring on own land, 
 Trapping with scented bait forbidden, 
 Shooting, Plymouth Bay, 
 Trespass, 
 
 Ownership of game, 
 Pheasants, 
 
 Deer, .... 
 Protection of deer from dogs, 
 Recovery for damages caused by wild deer, 
 
 etc 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 For the Preservation of Certain Birds and 
 
 Animals — concluded. page 
 Authority of commissioners relative to birds and 
 
 animals, 125 
 
 Disposal of fines, 125 
 
 Game not to be transported out of State, . . 125 
 • Introduction of foxes or raccoons into Dukes 
 
 County prohibited, 126 
 
 English sparrows to be killed, .... 126 
 
 Bounty for killing wild cat or Canada lynx, . 126 
 
 List of Ponds stocked. 1908-1910, . . . .128 
 
 Deputy Fish and Game Commissioners, . . 130 
 
 Cities and Towns, with District, .... 132 
 
FISH AND GAME LAWS 
 
 OF 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS, 
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FISH LAWS. 
 
 Revised Laws, Chap. 91. 
 
 AUTHORITY OF COMMISSIONERS ON 
 FISHERIES AND GAME, ETC. 
 
 What constitute fisheries laws. 
 
 Section 1. All laws relative to the culture, 
 preservation, capture or passage of fish shall be 
 known as the laws relative to fisheries. 
 
 Appointment of fish and game commissioners. 
 
 Section 2. There shall be a board of commis- 
 sioners on fisheries and game consisting of three 
 persons who shall be appointed by the governor, 
 with the advice and consent of the council, for 
 the term of five years from the time of their 
 appointments and who shall be removable at the 
 pleasure of the governor. 
 
 As AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1905, CHAP. 407. 
 
 Authority to remove obstructions to migratory fish. 
 
 Section 3. The commissioners are em- 
 powered to appoint deputies, and each of the 
 commissioners, the deputies of the commis- 
 sioners or members of the district police may 
 enforce the laws regulating fisheries; and may 
 seize and remove, summarily if need be, all 
 illegal obstructions to the passage of migratory 
 fish except dams, mills or machinery, at the 
 expense of the persons using or maintaining the 
 same. 
 
 Acts of 1908, Chap. 417. 
 
 Authority of the commissioners and their deputies to 
 enforce laws. 
 
 Section 1. The commissioners on fisheries 
 and game and their salaried deputies shall have 
 and exercise throughout the commonwealth for 
 
FISH LAWS. 
 
 the enforcement of the laws relating to fish, 
 birds and mammals, all the powers of constables, 
 except the service of civil process, and of police- 
 men and watchmen. The said salaried deputies 
 when on duty shall wear, and shall display as a 
 token of authority, a metallic badge bearing the 
 seal of the commonwealth and the words "Dep- 
 uty Fish and Game Commissioner." 
 
 Section 2. Any person not being a salaried 
 deputy of said commission on fisheries and game 
 who shall possess or wear the above described 
 badge shall be punished by a fine of ten dollars 
 for every such offence. 
 
 Section 3. The commissioners on fisheries 
 and game, with the approval of the governor, may 
 in writing authorize any of their salaried depu- 
 ties to have in possession and carry a revolver, 
 club, billy, handcuffs and twisters, or such other 
 weapon or article as may be required in the per- 
 formance of their official duty. 
 
 Acts of 1908, Chap. 255. 
 May require display for inspection. 
 
 A commissioner on fisheries and game or any 
 duly authorized deputy commissioner, receiving 
 a salary from the commonwealth, may request 
 of any person whom said commissioner or deputy 
 commissioner reasonably believes to be engaged 
 in the taking, killing, hunting or snaring of fish, 
 birds or animals, contrary to law, that such per- 
 son shall forthwith display for the inspection of 
 such commissioner or deputy commissioner, any 
 and all fish, birds and animals then in his pos- 
 session; and upon refusal to comply with such 
 request said commissioner or duly authorized 
 deputy commissioner may arrest without warrant 
 the person so refusing. 
 
 Can arrest without warrant. 
 
 Section 4. The commissioners and their 
 deputies, members of the district police and all 
 officers qualified to serve criminal process may 
 
FISH LAWS. 
 
 arrest without warrant any person whom they 
 find violating any of the fish or game laws, except 
 that persons engaged in the business of regularly 
 dealing in the buying and selling of game as an 
 article of commerce shall not be so arrested for 
 having in possession or selling game at their usual 
 places of business. 
 
 Acts of 1904, Chap. 367, as amended by Acts of 1910, Chap. 
 548. 
 
 Right of search. 
 
 Section 1. Any commissioner on fisheries 
 and game, deputy commissioner on fisheries and 
 game, or member of the district police, may, 
 with or without a warrant, search any boat, car, 
 box, locker, crate or package, and any building, 
 where he has reason to believe any game or fish 
 taken or held in violation of law is to be found, 
 and may seize any game or fish so taken or held, 
 and any game or fish so taken or held shall be 
 disposed of by the commissioners on fisheries and 
 game as they may deem advisable for the best 
 interests of the commonwealth: 'provided, how- 
 ever, that this section shall not authorize entering 
 a dwelling house, or apply to game or fish which 
 is passing through this commonwealth under au- 
 thority of the laws of the United States. 
 
 Section 2. A court or justice authorized to 
 issue warrants in criminal cases shall, upon com- 
 plaint under oath that the complainant believes 
 that any game or fish unlawfully taken or held is 
 concealed in a particular place, other than a 
 dwelling house, if satisfied that there is reason- 
 able cause for such belief, issue a warrant to 
 search therefor. The search warrant shall desig- 
 nate and describe the place to be searched and the 
 articles for which search is to be made, and shall 
 be directed to any officer named in section one of 
 this act, commanding him to search the place 
 where the game or fish for which he is required 
 to search is believed to be concealed, and to seize 
 such game or fish. 
 
10 FISH LAWS. 
 
 Acts of 1907, Chap. 299. 
 Duties with respect to forest and other fires. 
 
 The commissioners on fisheries and game and 
 their duly authorized deputies may arrest with- 
 out a warrant any person found in the act of 
 unlawfully setting a fire. Said commissioners 
 and their deputies may require assistance accord- 
 ing to the provisions of section twenty of chapter 
 thirty-two of the Revised Laws, and they shall 
 take precautions to prevent the progress of forest 
 fires, or the improper kindling thereof, and upon 
 the discovery of any such fire shall immediately 
 summon the necessary assistance, and notify the 
 forest fire ward of the town. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 173. 
 Pulling down stone walls or fences. 
 
 The commissioners on fisheries and game and 
 their duly authorized deputies may arrest with- 
 out a warrant any person found in the act of 
 wilfully pulling down a stone wall or fence, or 
 otherwise violating the provisions of section 
 ninety-one of chapter two hundred and eight of 
 the Revised Laws. 
 
 To regulate brook fishing. 
 
 Section 5. If the owner of land within which 
 a brook is wholly or partly situated agrees that 
 such brook or part thereof shall be open to the 
 public after the expiration of three years as here- 
 inafter provided, the commissioners may, upon 
 petition of thirty or more inhabitants of a city or 
 town within which such brook is wholly or partly 
 situated, including such owner, or upon petition 
 of the mayor and aldermen of such city or the 
 selectmen of such town and such owner, cause 
 such brook to be stocked with food fish; and 
 shall then make reasonable regulations, which 
 shall be in force for a period of not more than 
 three years, relative to fishing in such brook, may 
 affix penalties of not more than twenty dollars 
 
FISH LAWS. 11 
 
 for each violation thereof and shall cause such 
 regulations to be enforced. There shall be al- 
 lowed and paid annually from the treasury of the 
 commonwealth an amount not exceeding five 
 hundred dollars to carry out the provisions of 
 this section. 
 
 Commissioners' authority to take fish. 
 
 Section 6. The commissioners may take fish 
 or cause them to be taken at any time or in any 
 manner for purposes connected with fish culture 
 or scientific observation. 
 
 As AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1902, CHAP. 164. 
 
 Fishing permits. 
 
 Section 7. The board of commissioners on 
 fisheries and game may issue permits for the 
 taking of sand eels in the tidal waters of the Merri- 
 mac and Ipswich rivers and Plum Island sound, 
 and their tributaries. Said permits shall be 
 issued without any fee therefor, and shall be 
 revocable at the discretion of the commissioners. 
 
 Acts of 1902, Chap. 178. 
 Investigations. 
 
 The authority of the commissioners on fisheries 
 and game shall extend to the investigation of 
 questions relating to fish and fisheries, or to game, 
 and they may from time to time, personally or by 
 assistants, institute and conduct inquiries per- 
 taining to such questions. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 217. 
 
 Colonizing insect-destroying birds within infested 
 regions. 
 
 The commissioners on fisheries and game are 
 hereby authorized to make an investigation of 
 the means by which those birds which feed upon 
 gypsy moths, brown tail moths, leopard moths, 
 cut worms, and other noxious insects, can be in- 
 creased or colonized within infested regions or in 
 special locations. 
 
12 FISH LAWS. 
 
 Acts of 1906, Chap. 327. 
 
 Protection of property and material used by the com- 
 missioners on fisheries and game in making scien- 
 tific investigations. 
 
 Whoever wilfully and without right enters in or 
 upon any building or other structure or any area 
 of land or water set apart and used by or under 
 authority of the commissioners on fisheries and 
 game for conducting scientific experiments or in- 
 vestigations after said commissioners have caused 
 printed notices of such occupation and use and 
 the purposes thereof to be placed in a conspicuous 
 position adjacent to any such areas of land or 
 water or upon any such building or other struc- 
 ture, and any person who wilfully and maliciously 
 injures or defaces any such building or other 
 structure or any notice posted as aforesaid, or 
 injures or destroys any property used in such ex- 
 periments or investigations, or otherwise inter- 
 feres therewith, shall be punished by imprison- 
 ment for not more than six months or by a fine 
 of not more than two hundred dollars. And 
 said commissioners and their deputies are hereby 
 authorized to arrest without warrant any person 
 found violating the provisions of this act. 
 
 Acts of 1910, Chap. 460. 
 
 Discharge of waste materials into the streams of the 
 commonwealth. 
 
 Section 1. If the commissioners on fisheries 
 and game determine that the fisheries of any 
 brook or stream in this commonwealth may be 
 of sufficient value to warrant the prohibition 
 or regulation of the discharge or escape of saw- 
 dust, shavings, garbage, ashes, acids, sewage, dye 
 stuffs, and other waste material from any par- 
 ticular sawmill, manufacturing or mechanical 
 plant, or dwelling house, stable or other building, 
 which may, directly or indirectly, materially in- 
 jure such fisheries, they may by an order in writ- 
 
FISH LAWS. 13 
 
 ing to the owner or tenant of such sawmill, manu- 
 facturing or mechanical plant, dwelling house, 
 stable or other building prohibit or regulate the 
 discharge or escape of sawdust, shavings, garbage, 
 ashes, acids, sewage, dye stuffs, and other waste 
 material therefrom into such brook or stream. 
 Such order may be revoked or modified by them 
 at any time. Before any such order is made 
 said commissioners shall, after reasonable notice 
 to all parties in interest, give a public hearing in 
 the county where the sawmill, manufacturing or 
 mechanical plant, dwelling house, stable or other 
 building to be affected by the order is located, at 
 which hearing any citizens shall have the right 
 to be heard on the questions to be determined by 
 the commissioners. Upon petition of the party 
 aggrieved by such order, filed within six months 
 after the date thereof, the superior court, sitting 
 in equity, may, after such notice as it may deem 
 sufficient, hear all interested parties and annul, 
 alter or affirm the order. If such petition is 
 filed by the party aggrieved by said order within 
 ten days after the date thereof said order shall 
 not take effect until altered or affirmed as afore- 
 said. Whoever, having so been notified, dis- 
 charges sawdust, shavings, garbage, ashes, acids, 
 sewage, dye stuffs, and other waste materials, or 
 suffers or permits it to be discharged or to escape 
 from said plant under his control into a brook or 
 stream in violation of the order of said commis- 
 sioners, or of said court, if an appeal is taken, 
 shall be punished by a fine of not more than 
 twenty-five dollars for the first offence and of 
 fifty dollars for a second offence. 
 
 Section 2. Section eight of chapter ninety- 
 one of the Revised Laws, as amended by chapter 
 three hundred and fifty-six of the acts of the 
 year nineteen hundred and six, is hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the 
 first day of January in the year nineteen hundred 
 and eleven. 
 
14 FISH LAWS. 
 
 FISHWAYS. 
 
 As AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1904, CHAP. 365. 
 
 Authority to examine dams and fishways. 
 
 Section 9. The commissioners may examine 
 all dams upon rivers where the law requires fish- 
 ways to be maintained, or where in their judg- 
 ment fishways are needed, and they shall deter- 
 mine whether the fishways, if any, are suitable 
 and sufficient for the passage of the fish in such 
 rivers, or whether in their judgment a fishway is 
 needed for the passage of fish over any dam; 
 and shall prescribe by an order in writing what 
 changes or repairs, if any, shall be made therein, 
 and where, how and when a new fishway must be 
 built, and at what times the same shall be kept 
 open, and shall give notice to the owners of the 
 dams accordingly. The supreme judicial court, 
 or the superior court, shall, upon the petition of 
 the commissioners, have jurisdiction in equity or 
 otherwise to enforce any order made in accord- 
 ance with the provisions of this section, and to 
 restrain any violation of such order. 
 
 Notification of dam owners. 
 
 Section 10. Such owners shall be notified by 
 serving upon them a copy of the order; and a cer- 
 tificate of the commissioners that service has 
 been so made shall be deemed sufficient proof 
 thereof. 
 
 Liability of owners. 
 
 Section 11. Any owner of such a dam who 
 refuses or neglects to keep open or maintain a 
 fishway at the times prescribed by the commis- 
 sioners shall forfeit fifty dollars for each day of 
 such refusal or neglect. 
 
 Commissioners can build fishways. 
 
 Section 12. If, in the opinion of the commis- 
 sioners, a passage for edible fish should be pro- 
 
FISH LAWS. 15 
 
 vided, or if any one of the commissioners finds 
 that there is no fishway or an insufficient fishway 
 in or around a dam where a fishway is required by 
 law to be maintained, any one of the commis- 
 sioners may, in his discretion, enter with work- 
 men and materials upon the premises of the 
 person required to maintain a fishway there and 
 may, at the expense of the commonwealth, if in 
 the opinion of the commissioners the person 
 required by law to construct or maintain such 
 fishway is not able to afford such expense, im- 
 prove an existing fishway, or cause one to be 
 constructed if none exists, and may, if necessary, 
 take the land of any other person who is not 
 obliged by law to maintain said fishway; and if 
 a fishway has been constructed in accordance 
 with the provisions of this section, the commis- 
 sioners shall not require the owner of the dam 
 to alter such fishway within five years after the 
 completion thereof. 
 
 Settlement of damages. 
 
 Section 13. All damages which are caused 
 by taking land as provided in the preceding sec- 
 tion, shall, upon the application of either party, 
 be estimated in the same manner as land which 
 has been taken for a highway and shall be paid by 
 the commonwealth. Said expense shall be a 
 charge against the person who is required by law 
 to construct and maintain such fishway and shall 
 be recovered in an action of contract in the name 
 of the commonwealth, with costs and with in- 
 terest at the rate of twelve per cent per annum. 
 
 Passage over private land. 
 
 Section 14. Each of the commissioners may, 
 in the performance of his duties, enter upon and 
 pass through or over private property. 
 
16 FISH LAWS. 
 
 INSPECTION OF FISH. 
 
 Acts op 1902, Chap. 138. 
 Powers and duties of commissioners. 
 
 Section 1. The office of inspector general of 
 fish is hereby abolished. 
 
 Section 2. The powers and duties heretofore 
 conferred and imposed upon the inspector gen- 
 eral of fish are hereby conferred and imposed 
 upon the board of commissioners on fisheries and 
 game. 
 
 Section 3. Said board may appoint in every 
 town in which fish is packed for export, inspec- 
 tors of fish, who shall be sworn before them or 
 before a justice of the peace, and shall give bond 
 to them with sufficient sureties, and be removable 
 at the discretion of said board. Each inspector 
 shall once in six months make the returns to said 
 board necessary to carry into effect the pro- 
 visions of chapter fifty-six of the Revised Laws. 
 
 Section 4. The inspectors of fish shall have 
 the powers and perform the duties heretofore 
 conferred and imposed upon the deputy in- 
 spectors of fish, but shall pay to the commis- 
 sioners on fisheries and game the proportion of 
 fees formerly paid to the inspector general of fish. 
 Said commissioners shall pay the fees received 
 from the inspectors into the treasury of the com- 
 monwealth on the first Monday of January and 
 the first Monday of July in each year, and shall 
 include a brief statement of the work of fish 
 inspection and of the fees received therefor, in 
 their annual report. 
 
 Section 5. Sections three and four of chapter 
 fifty-six of the Revised Laws are hereby repealed. 
 
 Acts of 1903, Chap. 196. 
 Publication of returns of inspection of fish. 
 
 Section 1 . Section five of chapter fifty-six of 
 the Revised Laws, which provides for an annual 
 return and publication relative to the inspection 
 of fish, is hereby repealed. 
 
FISH LAWS. 17 
 
 FISHERIES IN GREAT PONDS. 
 
 Public rights in great ponds. 
 
 Section 15. The fishery of a pond, the area of 
 which is more than twenty acres, shall be public, 
 except as hereinafter provided; and all persons 
 shall, for the purpose of fishing, be allowed 
 reasonable means of access thereto. 
 
 Commissioners may occupy certain ponds. 
 
 Section 16. The commissioners may occupy, 
 manage and control not more than six great 
 ponds, except such as have revested in the com- 
 monwealth for breach of the terms and con- 
 ditions of any lease thereof, for the purpose of 
 cultivating useful fish and of distributing them 
 within the commonwealth; and may occupy not 
 more than one-tenth part thereof with en- 
 closures and appliances for the purpose of such 
 cultivation ; but this privilege shall not affect any 
 public rights to such ponds, other than the right 
 of fishing, and the appliances and enclosures 
 shall be so placed as not to debar ingress to or 
 egress from such ponds at proper places. 
 
 Section 17. If the commissioners determine 
 so to occupy and improve any such pond, they 
 shall post a notice of such purpose in a public 
 place in the town or towns in which said pond is 
 situated and file a like notice in the office of the 
 clerk of each of said towns and in the office of the 
 secretary of the commonwealth. The affidavit 
 of an officer qualified to serve civil process that 
 such notice has been posted shall be deemed full 
 proof thereof. 
 
 Section 18. After such notice has been so 
 filed and posted, any violation of any of the 
 rights of said commissioners under the pro- 
 visions of section sixteen shall be punished as 
 provided in section twenty-nine. 
 
18 FISH LAWS. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 185. 
 Introduction of fish into state waters. 
 
 Section 1 . It shall be unlawful to put in any 
 of the public waters, or in any waters connecting 
 therewith, any species of fish, or the roe, spawn 
 or fry thereof, without having first secured the 
 written approval of the commissioners on fish- 
 eries and game. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
 ceeding fifty dollars. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 285. 
 Stocking great ponds with food fish. 
 
 Section 1. The board of commissioners on 
 fisheries and game, upon the petition of the 
 mayor and aldermen of a city or of the select- 
 men of a town within which a great pond or a 
 part thereof is situated, shall cause the pond to 
 be stocked with such food fish as the board judges 
 to be best suited to the waters thereof: provided, 
 that a public hearing upon the matter has pre- 
 viously been given within such city or town by 
 the mayor and aldermen, or by the selectmen, 
 notice of which, at least ten days before the day 
 of the hearing, has been posted in three or more 
 public places and published in a newspaper in 
 such city or town, if there be any, and if not, then 
 in a newspaper published in the county in which 
 the pond is situated. In a town such a hearing 
 need not be given, if the town at an annual or a 
 special meeting has instructed the selectmen to 
 file such a petition. When a great pond is not 
 situated wholly within a city or town, the board 
 of commissioners on fisheries and game shall not 
 proceed under the provisions of this act with 
 respect to that pond, unless a majority of the 
 cities and towns bordering upon that pond have 
 filed petitions as aforesaid. The board shall 
 thereupon prescribe, for a period not exceeding 
 
FISH LAWS. 19 
 
 three years, such reasonable regulations relative 
 to fishing in the pond and its tributaries, with such 
 penalties not exceeding twenty dollars for one 
 offence, as they deem to be for the public in- 
 terest, and shall cause such regulations to be 
 enforced; but the provisions of this act shall not 
 apply to ponds used as sources of public water 
 supply. The commissioners may restock such 
 pond and may extend such reasonable regula- 
 tions for periods not exceeding three years each 
 whenever they receive a petition therefor as 
 herein provided. ' Five hundred dollars shall an- 
 nually be appropriated by the commonwealth 
 to carry out the provisions of this section. 
 
 Section 2. Section nineteen of chapter 
 ninety-one of the Revised Laws, as amended by 
 chapter two hundred and seventy-four of the 
 acts of the year nineteen hundred and three, and 
 by chapter three hundred and six of the acts of 
 the year nineteen hundred and seven, is hereby 
 repealed. 
 
 Mill pond, Yarmouth. 
 
 Section 20. The commissioners may occupy 
 and control Mill pond, in the town of Yarmouth, 
 for the purpose of cultivating food fish for dis- 
 tribution within the commonwealth. Whoever, 
 without the written consent of the commis- 
 sioners, fishes in said pond in any other manner 
 than with hand line and single hook, shall forfeit 
 not less than fifty nor more than two hundred 
 dollars for the first offence, and not less than one 
 hundred nor more than two hundred dollars for 
 any subsequent offence. 
 
 Measurement of ponds. 
 
 Section 21. The county commissioners shall, 
 in July, upon the request and at the expense of 
 any persons who claim to be interested in a great 
 pond, cause a measurement thereof to be made 
 which shall be recorded in the office of the town 
 
20 FISH LAWS. 
 
 clerk of each town within which such pond is 
 situated; and no arm or branch shall be included 
 as a part of a pond unless it is at least fifty feet 
 in width and one foot in depth. 
 
 Section 22. The selectmen of a town may- 
 measure ponds which are wholly within their 
 town, in the manner provided in the preceding 
 section, and such measurement shall be recorded 
 in the office of the town clerk. 
 
 Private ownership of ponds. 
 
 Section 23. The riparian proprietors of any 
 pond, the area of which is not more than twenty 
 acres, and the proprietors of any pond or parts 
 of a pond created by artificial flowing shall have 
 exclusive control of the fisheries therein. 
 
 Private ownership of ponds bounded in part by pub- 
 lic lands. 
 
 Section 24. A pond which is not more than 
 twenty acres in area and is bounded in part by 
 land belonging to a town or county shall become 
 the exclusive property of the individual pro- 
 prietors as to the fisheries therein only upon 
 payment to the town treasurer, county commis- 
 sioners or treasurer and receiver general of a just 
 compensation for their respective rights therein, 
 to be determined by three persons, one of whom 
 shall be a riparian proprietor of said pond, one 
 the chairman of the board of selectmen, if the 
 rights of a town are in question, or of the county 
 commissioners, if the rights of a county or of the 
 commonwealth are in question, and one to be 
 appointed by the commissioners on fisheries and 
 game. 
 
 Section 25. Whoever, without the written 
 consent of the proprietor or lessee of a natural 
 pond, the area of which is not more than twenty 
 acres, or of an artificial pond of any size, in 
 which fish are lawfully cultivated and main- 
 tained, takes any fish therefrom, shall forfeit 
 not more than twenty-five dollars for each 
 offence. 
 
FISH LAWS. 21 
 
 AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1904, CHAP. 308. 
 
 Prohibited apparatus for pond fishing. 
 
 Section 2G. Whoever draws, sets, stretches 
 or uses a drag net, set net, purse net, seine or 
 trawl, or whoever sets or uses more than ten 
 hooks for fishing, in any pond, or aids in so doing, 
 shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty 
 nor more than fifty dollars. The provisions of 
 this section shall not affect the rights of riparian 
 proprietors of ponds mentioned in section twenty- 
 three or the corporate rights of any fishing com- 
 pany. 
 
 CONTROL OF FISHERIES BY RIPARIAN 
 PROPRIETORS. 
 
 For cultivation of fish. 
 
 Section 27. A riparian proprietor of an un- 
 navigable stream may, within the limits of his 
 own premises, enclose the waters thereof for the 
 cultivation of useful fish if he furnishes a suitable 
 passage for migratory fish naturally frequenting 
 such waters. 
 
 When fish are private property. 
 
 Section 28. Fish which are artificially prop- 
 agated or maintained shall be the property of 
 the person propagating or maintaining them. A 
 person who is legally engaged in their culture and 
 maintenance may take them in his own waters 
 at pleasure, and may have them in his possession 
 for purposes properly connected with said culture 
 and maintenance, and may at all times sell them 
 for these purposes, but shall not sell them for 
 food at seasons when their capture is prohibited 
 by law. 
 
 Penalty for unauthorized fishing. 
 
 Section 29. Whoever, without the permis- 
 sion of the proprietors, fishes in that portion of a 
 pond, stream or other water in which fish are law- 
 fully cultivated or maintained shall forfeit not 
 
22 FISH LAWS. 
 
 less than one nor more than twenty dollars for the 
 first offence, and not less than five nor more than 
 fifty dollars for any subsequent offence. 
 
 Definition of navigable stream. 
 
 Section 30. For the purposes of this chapter, 
 no tidal stream shall be considered navigable 
 above the point where, on the average through- 
 out the year, it has a channel less than forty feet 
 wide and four feet deep during the three hours 
 nearest the hour of high tide. 
 
 Governor can fix bounds. 
 
 Section 31. The governor, with the advice 
 and consent of the council, may, for the pur- 
 poses of this chapter, arbitrarily fix and define 
 the tidal bounds and mouths of streams upon the 
 recommendation of the commissioners on fish- 
 eries and game. 
 
 Governor can limit fishing-. 
 
 Section 32. The governor may, in like man- 
 ner, limit or prohibit, for not more than five 
 years at any one time, fishing in the navigable 
 tidal waters and in the unnavigable waters of 
 specified streams, except in such portions as may 
 be enclosed according to provisions of section 
 twenty-seven; and whoever fishes in streams 
 where the right of fishing is thus limited or pro- 
 hibited shall forfeit ten dollars for the first offence 
 and fifty dollars for each subsequent offence. 
 
 Proprietor's rights. 
 
 Section 33. The riparian proprietor on an 
 Unnavigable tidal stream, enclosed or unenclosed, 
 in which fish are lawfully cultivated or main- 
 tained shall have the control of the fishery thereof 
 within his own premises and opposite thereto to 
 the middle of the stream, and a riparian pro- 
 prietor at the mouth of such stream, shall also 
 have control of the fishing thereof beyond and 
 
FISH LAWS. 23 
 
 around the mouth of the stream so far as the 
 tide ebbs, if it does not ebb more than eighty 
 rods; and whoever fishes within these limits 
 without permission of such owner shall forfeit not 
 less than one nor more than twenty dollars for 
 the first offence and not less than five nor more 
 than fifty dollars for each subsequent offence. 
 
 SHAD, HERRING AND ALEWIVES. 
 
 Acts of 1908, Chap. 298. 
 
 Prohibits the taking of herring in Hull and Quincy 
 bays, Hingham harbor and parts of Boston har- 
 bor by means of torches or other artificial light. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any person 
 to display torches or other light designed or used 
 for the purpose of taking herring in Hull bay, 
 Quincy bay, Hingham harbor, or in any waters 
 southerly of a line drawn from Moon Island to 
 Pemberton. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of this act shall, for a first offence, be punished by 
 a fine of not less than fifty nor more than two 
 hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not less 
 than six nor more than twelve months, or by both 
 such fine and imprisonment, and for a second 
 offence, by both said fine and imprisonment. 
 
 Acts of 1909, Chap. 194 
 
 Prohibits the taking of herring in Lynn harbor or its 
 vicinity by means of torches or other light. 
 
 Section 1. No person shall display torches 
 or other light designed or used for the purpose of 
 taking herring or other fish in Lynn harbor and 
 its vicinity, from a line drawn from Bass Point in 
 the town of Nahant to Ocean Pier in the town of 
 Revere, or in Saugus river or Pines river, so- 
 called, or in any tributary thereof. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of this act shall be punished for a first offence by 
 a fine of not less than fifty nor more than two 
 hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not less 
 
24 FISH LAWS. 
 
 than six nor more than twelve months, or by both 
 such fine and imprisonment, and for a second 
 offence by both such fine and imprisonment. 
 
 Acts of 1910, Chap. 494, as amended by Acts of 1911, Chap. 
 103. 
 
 Regulates torching in the waters of Cohasset, Scitu- 
 ate, Duxbury, Kingston and Plymouth. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
 son to display torches or other light designed or 
 used for the purpose of taking herring or other 
 fish in any of the waters of Cohasset and Scituate 
 southwesterly of a line drawn from Little Black 
 Rock to Gull Island, or in the waters of Duxbury 
 and Plymouth harbors westerly of a line drawn 
 from Pier Head to Saquish Head, or in the waters 
 of the town of Kingston: provided, however, that 
 the selectmen of the towns of Cohasset, Scituate, 
 Duxbury, Kingston and Plymouth may grant 
 permits for the display of torches or other light 
 for the purposes aforesaid, within the limits of 
 their respective towns as herein described, with 
 such restrictions as in their judgment will pre- 
 vent the same from constituting a nuisance ; and 
 they may at any time revoke any such permit. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of this act shall be punished for a first offence by 
 a fine of not less than fifty nor more than two 
 hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not less 
 than six nor more than twelve months, or by 
 both such fine and imprisonment, and for a sec- 
 ond offence by both such fine and imprisonment. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 164. 
 
 Regulates the taking of fish by means of torches or 
 other artificial light in the waters of Winthrop. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
 son to display torches or other light designed or 
 used for the purpose of taking herring or other 
 fish in any waters of the town of Winthrop : pro- 
 vided, however, that the selectmen of said town 
 
FISH LAWS. 25 
 
 may grant permits for the display of torches or 
 other lights for the purposes aforesaid within the 
 limits of the town, with such restrictions as in 
 their judgment will prevent the same from con- 
 stituting a nuisance; and they may at any time 
 revoke any such permit. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of this act shall be punished for a first offence by 
 a fine of not less than fifty nor more than two 
 hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not less 
 than six nor more than twelve months, or by 
 both such fine and imprisonment, and for a 
 second offence by both such fine and imprison- 
 ment. 
 
 Acts of 1909, Chap. 291. 
 
 In the waters in and about Nahant bay, Beverly har- 
 bor and Salem bay. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
 son to display torches or other light designed or 
 used for the purpose of taking herring or other 
 fish, in Nahant bay, Beverly harbor, Salem bay, 
 or in the vicinity or in any inlet therein, or in any 
 waters westerly and northwesterly of a line drawn 
 from East Point, Nahant, to Egg Rock, to Ram 
 island, to Tinker's island, to Lowell island, to 
 Baker's island, to the eastern end of Great Misery 
 island, then to the southern point of Gale's Head, 
 Manchester, including Manchester harbor and 
 Bass river, Beverly, and its tributaries : provided, 
 however, that the boards of health of the cities of 
 Beverly and Salem and of the towns of Danvers, 
 Manchester and Marblehead may grant permits 
 for the display of torches or other light for the 
 purpose aforesaid, within the limits of their re- 
 spective cities and towns during the months of 
 October to April, inclusive, of any year, with such 
 restrictions as in their judgment will prevent the 
 same from constituting a nuisance ; and they may 
 at any time revoke any such permit. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall, for a first offence, be punished by 
 
26 FISH LAWS. 
 
 a fine of not less than fifty nor more than two hun- 
 dred dollars or by imprisonment for not less than 
 six months nor more than twelve months, or by 
 both such fine and imprisonment; and for a sec- 
 ond offence, by both such fine and imprisonment. 
 
 Rights of towns and cities. 
 
 Section 34. A city or town may open ditches, 
 sluiceways or canals into any pond within its 
 limits for the introduction and propagation of 
 herring or ale wives, and for the creation of 
 fisheries for the same ; and land for opening such 
 ditches, sluiceways or canals within such city or 
 town may be taken according to the provisions 
 of law for the taking of land for highways. 
 
 Section 35. A city or town which creates 
 such fishery shall own it, may make regulations 
 concerning it and may lease it for not more than 
 five years, upon such terms as may be agreed 
 upon. A town may lease for a like period, and 
 upon like terms, any fishery owned by it or any 
 public fishery regulated and controlled by it. 
 
 Section 36. Whoever takes, kills or hauls on 
 shore any herring or alewives in a fishery created 
 by a city or town, without its permission or that 
 of its lessees, or in a fishery created by a corpo- 
 ration, without the permission of such corpora- 
 tion, shall forfeit not less than five nor more than 
 fifty dollars. Prosecutions under the provisions 
 of this section shall be commenced within thirty 
 days after the commission of the offence. 
 
 Personal rights. 
 
 Section 37. The provisions of the three pre- 
 ceding sections shall not impair the rights of any 
 person under any law passed before the twenty- 
 fifth day of April in the year eighteen hundred 
 and sixty-six or under any contract then existing 
 or authorize a city or town to enter upon or build 
 canals or sluiceways into a pond which is the 
 private property of a person or corporation. 
 
FISH LAWS. 27 
 
 Acts of 1904, Chap. 321. 
 Relative to ale wife fishery, Sandwich. 
 
 Section 1. Levi S. Nye and John A. Holway, 
 their heirs and assigns, shall have for the term of 
 ten years from the date of the passage of this 
 act, the exclusive right to take and catch ale- 
 wives in the stream known as "Mill River", from 
 its sources in the "Shawme Lakes or Ponds", so- 
 called, through the marshes in the town of Sand- 
 wich to the waters of Cape Cod bay: provided, 
 that the said Nye and Holway, their heirs and 
 assigns, shall construct and maintain a good and 
 sufficient passageway over or around the dam 
 or dams which now are or may hereafter be 
 erected upon said stream to enable fish to enter 
 the ponds above such dam or dams, and shall 
 keep such passageway open and unobstructed 
 from the first day of April to the fourteenth day 
 of June, inclusive, of each year. 
 
 Section 2. Said Nye and Holway, and their 
 heirs and assigns, may catch alewives during two 
 thirds of the period specified in section one, that 
 is to say, upon fifty days out of the seventy-five 
 days between the first day of April and the four- 
 teenth day of June, inclusive, of each year. 
 
 Section 3. Any person or persons taking ale- 
 wives in said Mill river or in the said lakes or 
 ponds without the written consent of the said 
 Nye and Holway, or of their heirs and assigns, 
 shall, upon the complaint of said Nye or Holway, 
 or of their or any of their heirs or assigns, or of 
 any person in their behalf, forfeit not less than 
 ten nor more than twenty dollars for each offence. 
 Half of every such forfeiture shall be paid to said 
 Nye and Holway or to their heirs or assigns. 
 
 Acts of 1904, Chap. 232. 
 Hummock pond, Nantucket. 
 
 Section 1. The inhabitants of the island of 
 Nantucket may take alewives or herring with 
 
28 FISH LAWS. 
 
 seines or nets in Hummock pond, south of the 
 bridge in the said island, from the tenth day of 
 March to the thirty-first day of May, inclusive, 
 in each year; but all fish, other than alewives or 
 herring, caught or taken in such seines or nets 
 shall immediately be put back in the water 
 whence they were taken. 
 
 Section 2. Any person violating the pro- 
 visions of this act, by failing to put back imme- 
 diately as aforesaid fish other than alewives or 
 herring caught or taken as aforesaid, shall be 
 punished by a fine of not less than twenty nor 
 more than fifty dollars. 
 
 Section 3. So much of section twenty-six of 
 chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws as is in- 
 consistent herewith is hereby repealed. 
 
 Fishing in Connecticut river. 
 
 Section 38. Whoever takes or aids in taking 
 from the Connecticut river or its tributaries any 
 shad or alewives between the first day of July and 
 the fifteenth day of March shall forfeit one hun- 
 dred dollars for each offence. 
 
 Fishing in Merrimac river. 
 
 Section 39. Whoever, from the first day of 
 March to the thirty-first day of May, takes ale- 
 wives above tidal waters in the Merrimac river 
 or any tributary thereof between sunrise on 
 Friday morning and sunrise on Monday morning 
 shall, except as provided in section forty-one, 
 forfeit for each alewife so taken not less than one 
 nor more than five dollars. 
 
 Section 40. No person shall take shad in the 
 Merrimac river in any manner between the first 
 day of July and the first day of April. 
 
 Regulation of nets in Merrimac river. 
 
 Section 41. Whoever takes shad or alewives 
 in that part of the Merrimac river where the 
 tide ebbs and flows, by the use of a gill net of any 
 
FISH LAWS. 29 
 
 description, or of a sweep seine having a mesh 
 which stretches less than one and three-quarters 
 inches, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars for each 
 offence. 
 
 Methods and times of fishing. 
 
 Section 42. Whoever takes shad or alewives, 
 except in the Connecticut, Taunton Great, 
 Nemasket and Merrimac rivers and their tribu- 
 taries, in any other manner than by naturally or 
 artificially baited hook and hand line, on Sun- 
 day, Tuesday or Thursday, and whoever, between 
 the fifteenth day of June and the first day of 
 March, takes shad, except in the Connecticut and 
 Merrimac rivers, or alewives, shall forfeit for 
 each shad five dollars, and for each alewife 
 twenty-five cents. 
 
 Rights of lessees in Dukes County. 
 
 Section 43. Lessees from the commissioners 
 on fisheries and game of any body of water in the 
 county of Dukes County and all other persons 
 having the right to take alewives in any other 
 waters in said county may at any time take ale- 
 wives from said waters and from the ditches con- 
 necting them with each other and with the ocean. 
 Whoever, other than said lessees or any other 
 person duly authorized, takes any fish, except 
 eels, from any of said waters or ditches without 
 the previous permission in writing of said lessees 
 or of said duly authorized persons shall forfeit one 
 dollar for each fish so taken. 
 
 Acts of 1910, Chap. 529. 
 
 Leasing of Tisbury Great Pond by the board of com- 
 missioners on fisheries and game. 
 
 Section 1. The board of commissioners on 
 fisheries and game may in the name of the com- 
 monwealth lease from time to time until January 
 first, nineteen hundred and twenty, for a term 
 not exceeding five years at any one time, the 
 
30 FISH LAWS. 
 
 pond known as Tisbury Great Pond, in -the county 
 of Dukes County, with the arms, coves and bays 
 connected therewith, for the purpose of cultivat- 
 ing useful fishes, on such terms and conditions as 
 may seem to them expedient: provided, that 
 nothing herein shall affect the right of any citizen 
 of the commonwealth to take fish in said pond or 
 in the waters connected therewith by hook and 
 line, according to the laws now or hereafter in 
 force relating to the taking of fish by hook and 
 line. 
 
 Section 2. Before making such lease or 
 leases the commissioner shall appoint a time 
 and place for a hearing upon the application 
 therefor and shall give notice of the hearing to 
 every town within the limits of which any part 
 of said pond lies. 
 
 Section 3. The rental of said pond, arms, 
 bays and coves shall be one hundred and twenty- 
 five dollars a year, payable by the lessees thereof 
 on the first day of March annually to the treas- 
 urers of the towns of West Tisbury and Chilmark, 
 one half part to each. 
 
 Section 4. Any town within the limits of 
 which any part of said pond lies may for the 
 purpose of cultivating useful fishes take a lease 
 of said pond and appropriate money therefor, at 
 the rental aforesaid and upon such conditions as 
 may be agreed upon by such town and the afore- 
 said commissioners, provided that the said pond 
 is not already leased. 
 
 Section 5. The commissioners may fix the 
 limits of the said pond and the arms, coves and 
 bays connected therewith, which limits being 
 recorded in the registry of deeds for said county 
 shall be taken to be the legal limits thereof for 
 all the purposes of this act. 
 
 Section 6. The commissioners shall have the 
 custody of all such leases, and may cause any 
 agreements, rights, reservations, forfeitures and 
 conditions therein contained to be enforced, and 
 
FISH LAWS. 31 
 
 for that purpose may institute proceedings in the 
 name of the commonwealth and may take pos- 
 session of any premises for breach of condition 
 of such lease, and after revesting the common- 
 wealth therewith may again lease the same. 
 
 Section 7. This act shall take effect upon its 
 passage. 
 
 Acts of 1904, Chap. 132. 
 Authority of officers on Palmer's river. 
 
 Section 1 . The sheriff of the county of Bristol 
 or any of his deputies, or any constable or fish 
 warden of either of the towns of Swansea and 
 Rehoboth, may without a warrant arrest any 
 person whom he finds in the act of taking herring, 
 ale wives or shad from the waters of Palmer's 
 river in either of said towns in violation of the 
 provisions of chapter one hundred and thirty of 
 the acts of the year eighteen hundred and thirty- 
 six, or of chapter ninety-two of the acts of the 
 year eighteen hundred and fifty-two, and may 
 detain such person in a place of safe keeping until 
 a warrant can be procured upon a complaint 
 against him for said offence: provided, that the 
 detention without a warrant shall not exceed 
 twenty-four hours. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of either of said chapters shall, in addition to the 
 forfeitures therein provided, forfeit the seines 
 or nets used in such unlawful taking of herring, 
 ale wives or shad. 
 
 REGULATION OF FISHING NEAR FISHWAYS, 
 WITH NETS, AND ON CONNECTICUT AND MER- 
 RIMAC RIVERS. 
 On Connecticut river. 
 
 Section 44. Whoever takes any fish within 
 two hundred yards of any fishway on the Con- 
 necticut river or its tributaries, or trespasses 
 within the limits of such fishway, shall forfeit fifty 
 dollars for each offence. Whoever takes any 
 
32 FISH LAWS. 
 
 fish beyond two hundred and within four hun- 
 dred yards of any such fishway, in any other man- 
 ner than by artificially or naturally baited hook 
 and line, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars for each 
 fish so taken. 
 
 On Merrimac river. 
 
 Section 45. Whoever takes any fish within 
 four hundred yards of any fishway on the Mer- 
 rimac river, or trespasses within the limits of 
 such fishway, shall forfeit fifty dollars for each 
 offence. 
 
 Net fishing season, Merrimac river. 
 
 Section 46. Whoever, from the last day of 
 May to the first day of March, uses a net of any 
 description in the waters of the Merrimac river or 
 any tributary thereof shall forfeit twenty-five 
 dollars for each offence. 
 
 Gill net fishing prohibited. 
 
 Section 47. Whoever uses a gill net of any 
 description in the waters of the Connecticut or 
 Merrimac river or any tributary thereof shall 
 forfeit twenty-five dollars for each offence. 
 
 Size of mesh. 
 
 Section 48. Whoever, in taking herring or 
 mackerel, except with a dip net, in Mill river and 
 its tributaries in the city of Gloucester or the 
 towns of Essex and Ipswich, or in Plum Island 
 river and its tributaries in the towns of Ipswich, 
 Rowley or Newbury, uses a net or seine having a 
 mesh of less than one and three-quarters inches 
 shall be punished by a fine of twenty-five dollars 
 for each offence. 
 
 Size of seine mesh. 
 
 Section 49. Whoever uses in the Connecticut 
 Westfield, Deerfield, Miller's, Merrimac, Nashua 
 or Housatonic rivers, or any tributary thereof, a 
 
FISH LAWS. 33 
 
 sweep seine having a mesh which stretches less 
 than five inches shall forfeit twenty-five dollars 
 for the first offence, and fifty dollars for each sub- 
 sequent offence. 
 
 When penalties do not apply. 
 
 Section 50. The penalties prescribed by this 
 chapter for unlawful fishing in the Merrimac river 
 shall not apply to any person who draws a net or 
 seine with a mesh not less than two and one- 
 quarter inches after the twentieth day of June in 
 each year at any point in said river below the 
 Essex-Merrimac bridge, unless he takes salmon 
 or shad, nor if, while thus lawfully fishing, he 
 takes such fish and immediately returns it alive to 
 the waters from which it was taken. 
 
 Regulations on Connecticut river. 
 
 Section 51. Whoever, between the fifteenth 
 day of March and the first day of July, sets or 
 uses, or aids in setting or using, in the Connecticut 
 river, a pound, weir or set net the meshes whereof 
 are less than two inches in extent, or between sun- 
 set on Saturday and sunrise on Monday sets or 
 draws, or aids in setting or drawing, a seine for 
 the purpose of taking fish in said river, and any 
 person owning or controlling in whole or in part a 
 pound, weir or set net of any description, placed in 
 said river, who, between sunset and sunrise as 
 aforesaid, fails to keep the same open and free for 
 the passage of fish in a manner satisfactory to the 
 commissioners on fisheries and game shall forfeit 
 four hundred dollars for each offence; and, in 
 addition, shall forfeit such pounds, weirs and set 
 nets. 
 
 Seining- restrictions. 
 
 Section 52. Whoever uses a sweep seine or 
 combination of sweep seines in such a manner as 
 at any moment to close or seriously obstruct more 
 than two-thirds of the width of a stream at the 
 
34 FISH LAWS. 
 
 place where it is used, or delays or stops in paying 
 out or hauling a sweep seine, or hauls a sweep 
 seine within one-half mile of a point where such 
 seine has been hauled within an hour, shall for- 
 feit twenty-five dollars for the first offence, and 
 fifty dollars for each subsequent offence; but the 
 provisions of this section shall not apply to seines 
 used in the smelt fisheries, or to the fisheries for 
 shad or alewives in the Taunton Great river, or to 
 the fisheries in North river in the county of 
 Plymouth. 
 
 Restrictions, North river. 
 
 Section 53. Whoever sets a seine or combi- 
 nation of seines over three hundred and eighty- 
 five feet in length, or casts a mesh net over three 
 hundred and fifty feet in length, in the North 
 river in the county of Plymouth shall for each 
 offence be punished by a fine not less than twenty- 
 five nor more than one hundred dollars or by im- 
 prisonment for not less than one nor more than 
 three months. 
 
 Fish -wardens in certain towns and cities. 
 
 Section 54. The mayor and aldermen of 
 cities and the selectmen of towns bordering on the 
 Connecticut or Merrimac river shall appoint and 
 fix the compensation of one or more fish wardens 
 within their respective cities and towns, who 
 shall, respectively, make complaint of all offences 
 under the provisions of sections thirty-eight, 
 forty-four, forty-five and fifty-one. 
 
 Liability for neglect to appoint wardens. 
 
 Section 55. A city or town whose mayor and 
 aldermen or selectmen neglect to appoint and fix 
 the compensation of such fish wardens shall 
 forfeit not less than one hundred nor more than 
 five hundred dollars. 
 
FISH LAWS. 35 
 
 BLUEFISH. 
 In Wellfleet bay. 
 
 Section 56. Whoever takes any bluefish in 
 the waters of Wellfleet bay in the town of Well- 
 fleet with nets or seines, north and east of 
 Smalley's bar inside of a line drawn from Smal- 
 ley's bar buoy east-southeast to the eastern 
 shore and west-northwest to the western shore, 
 shall forfeit one dollar for each bluefish so taken 
 or be punished by a fine of not more than one 
 hundred dollars. 
 
 TROUT AND SALMON. 
 
 Acts of 1909, Chap. 377, as amended by Acts of 1910, 
 
 Chap. 469. 
 Trout and salmon. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful for a person 
 at any time to buy or sell or offer for sale a trout 
 except as hereinafter provided, or to take or have 
 in possession trout or salmon between the first 
 day of August in any year and the first day of 
 April of the year following, or to sell or offer for 
 sale or have in possession between the above- 
 named dates salmon taken in this Commonwealth, 
 or to take a trout or salmon otherwise than by 
 naturally or artificially baited hook and hand 
 line; or to have in possession at any time a trout 
 less than six inches or a salmon less than twelve 
 inches in length, unless such trout less than six 
 inches or such salmon less than twelve inches 
 was taken by a person lawfully fishing, and is im- 
 mediately returned alive in the water whence it 
 was taken. 
 
 Section 2. Upon written application to the 
 commissioners on fisheries and game permission 
 shall be granted to any person to buy and sell or 
 have in possession, at any season of the year, 
 trout artificially propagated and maintained, 
 under such rules and regulations, approved by 
 the governor and council, as may be made from 
 time to time by the commissioners. 
 
36 FISH LAWS. 
 
 Section 3. Any person violating any provi- 
 sion of this act, or any rule or regulation made as 
 aforesaid, shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
 ing twenty-five dollars for each offence, and the 
 commissioners on fisheries and game may, in 
 case of a violation of any rule or regulation made 
 by them, suspend or revoke any license or permit 
 granted by them under authority of this act. 
 
 Section 4. Sections fifty-seven, fifty-eight 
 and fifty-nine of chapter ninety-one of the Re- 
 vised Laws, chapter one hundred and ninety of 
 the acts of the year nineteen hundred and five, 
 chapters two hundred and sixty-three and three 
 hundred and fourteen of the acts of the yeai nine- 
 teen hundred and six, chapter two hundred and 
 ninety-six of the acts of the year nineteen hun- 
 dred and seven, and all acts and parts of acts in- 
 consistent herewith are hereby repealed. 
 
 Screens on the Merrimac. 
 
 Section 60. The commissioners on fisheries 
 and game shall, during April, May and June, for 
 the better protection of salmon fry in the Merri- 
 mac river, cause wire screens to be erected and 
 maintained at the entrance of the canals in 
 Lowell and Lawrence at the expense of the com- 
 panies owning and operating said canals. 
 
 Liability for minors. 
 
 Section 61. If a minor takes a trout in any 
 other manner than by hook and line in a town 
 which accepts the provisions of this section or has 
 accepted the corresponding provisions of earlier 
 laws, his guardian shall forfeit one dollar for each 
 trout so taken; but all prosecutions under the 
 provisions of this section shall be commenced 
 within thirty days after the commission of the 
 offence. 
 
 Public waters only to be stocked. 
 
 Section 65. No person, corporation or asso- 
 ciation shall be provided by the commonwealth 
 with trout or trout spawn to stock waters owned 
 
FISH LAWS. 37 
 
 or leased by him or them or under his or their con- 
 trol unless he or they first agree in writing with 
 the commissioners on fisheries and game that 
 such waters so stocked shall be free for the public 
 to fish in during the season in which the taking of 
 trout is permitted by law. 
 
 PICKEREL. 
 
 AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1904, CHAP. 329. 
 
 Legal size of pickerel. 
 
 Section 67. Whoever takes from the waters 
 of this commonwealth a pickerel less than ten 
 inches in length, or sells or offers for sale, or has 
 in his possession, with intent to sell any such 
 pickerel, shall forfeit one dollar for each pickerel 
 so taken, held in possession, sold or offered or 
 exposed for sale; and in prosecutions under the 
 provisions of this section the possession of pick- 
 erel less than ten inches in length shall be prima 
 facie evidence to convict. 
 
 Acts of 1905, Chap. 417. 
 Apparatus of capture. 
 
 Section 1. A town may by a by-law duly 
 enacted and approved as required by law forbid 
 the taking or catching of pickerel in any river, 
 stream or pond therein in any other manner than 
 by naturally or artificially baited hook and hand 
 line, and may provide a suitable penalty for the 
 violation of such by-law. 
 
 Section 2. Section sixty-eight of chapter 
 
 ninety-one of the Revised Laws, and chapter 
 
 three hundred and sixty-four of the acts of the 
 
 year nineteen hundred and four, are hereby 
 
 repealed. 
 
 BLACK BASS. 
 Size. 
 
 Section 70. Whoever takes or sells or offers 
 for sale or has in his possession with intent to sell 
 a black bass less than eight inches in length shall 
 forfeit ten dollars for each fish so taken, sold or 
 
38 FISH LAWS. 
 
 offered or exposed for sale; and in prosecutions 
 under the provisions of this section the possession 
 of a black bass less than eight inches in length 
 shall be prima facie evidence to convict. 
 
 SMELTS. 
 Close season. 
 
 Section 71. Whoever, between the fifteenth 
 day of March and the first day of June, sells or 
 offers or exposes for sale or has in his possession a 
 smelt taken between said dates in this common- 
 wealth, shall forfeit one dollar for every such 
 smelt; and the possession of a smelt between 
 said dates shall be prima facie evidence to con- 
 vict. 
 
 Apparatus allowed. 
 
 Section 72. Whoever takes a smelt in any 
 other manner than by naturally or artificially 
 baited hook and hand line shall, except as pro- 
 vided in section seventy-six, forfeit one dollar for 
 each smelt so taken; and in all prosecutions 
 under the provisions of this section the burden 
 of proof shall be upon the defendant to show that 
 smelts taken by him were legally caught. 
 
 Exceptions in certain counties. 
 
 Section 73. The provisions of the two pre- 
 ceding sections shall not apply to smelts taken in 
 a seine or net in the counties of Bristol, Barn- 
 stable, Nantucket or Dukes County during the 
 time and in the manner in which fishing is allowed 
 for perch, herring or ale wives. 
 
 Prohibited apparatus. 
 
 Section 74. No person shall set, draw, use or 
 attempt to set, draw or use any net, seine, trap 
 or device for catching smelts, other than a 
 naturally or artificially baited hook, in the waters 
 of Boston harbor, Hingham harbor, Weir river, 
 Weymouth Fore river, Weymouth Back river, 
 Neponset river, Charles river, Mystic river, or in 
 
FISH LAWS. 39 
 
 any cove, bay, inlet or tributary thereof ; but the 
 provisions of this section shall not prohibit the 
 use of traps for catching lobsters. 
 
 What constitutes evidence. 
 
 Section 75. Possession of any net, seine, trap 
 or device for catching fish, other than a naturally 
 or artificially baited hook, in or upon said har- 
 bors, rivers or tributaries, or on the banks of the 
 same, if adapted to the present catching of smelts 
 and apparently intended for that purpose, shall 
 be deemed prima facie evidence of a violation of 
 the provisions of the preceding section, and the 
 possession of any fresh smelts, not apparently 
 caught by the use of a hook, in or upon said har- 
 bors, rivers or tributaries, or on the banks of 
 the same, after sunset or under other circum- 
 stances of suspicion, shall be deemed prima facie 
 evidence that said smelts were caught contrary 
 to the provisions of the preceding section by the 
 person in whose possession they are found. 
 
 Penalties. 
 
 Section 76. Whoever violates the provi- 
 sions of section seventy-four or receives smelts 
 knowing or having reasonable cause to believe 
 that the same have been taken contrary to the 
 provisions of said section shall, for a first offence, 
 be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor 
 more than two hundred dollars or by imprison- 
 ment for not less than six nor more than twelve 
 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, 
 and, for a second offence, by both said fine and 
 imprisonment. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 306. 
 
 Towns of Weymouth and Braintree may regulate the 
 taking of smelts in the waters of Weymouth Fore 
 river and Weymouth Back river. 
 
 Section 1. By joint action the selectmen of 
 the towns of Weymouth and Braintree, if so in- 
 structed by their towns, may grant permits for 
 
40 FISH LAWS. 
 
 the taking of smelts in the close season between 
 the fifteenth day of March and the fifteenth day 
 of April, both dates inclusive, in the Weymouth 
 Fore river and the Weymouth Back river. Such 
 permits shall prescribe the time and methods of 
 so taking smelts, and the said selectmen may 
 make such other regulations in regard to said 
 fishery as they may deem expedient: provided, 
 that the fish so taken shall be in quantities not 
 exceeding thirty-six fish in any one day by any 
 one person. The smelts so taken shall not be 
 sold or offered for sale at any time. Any person 
 receiving smelts under this act who sells, gives 
 away or disposes of the same, in any manner, to 
 persons other than his own family shall be sub- 
 ject to the penalty herein provided. 
 
 Section 2. The board of commissioners on 
 fisheries and game may alter or annul any rule, 
 regulation or by-law, relative to the taking of 
 smelts under this act, if, in their opinion, the 
 same is prejudicial to the maintenance of the 
 fisheries. 
 
 Section 3. The towns of Weymouth and 
 Braintree are hereby authorized to take or ac- 
 quire by purchase or otherwise such lands or 
 rights in lands along the said rivers as may be 
 convenient for fishing therein, and may appro- 
 priate money for carrying out the provisions of 
 this act. The selectmen and any persons em- 
 ployed by them or authorized by them to take 
 fish under the provisions of this act may go upon 
 and pass over the lands of any person through 
 or by which either of the said rivers run, pro- 
 vided that they shall enter upon or pass over 
 such lands at such times and places as the se- 
 lectmen shall prescribe, and only for the pur- 
 pose of protecting the said fishery or of taking 
 the said fish, and shall do no more damage to 
 said lands than is unavoidable. Any person who 
 shall prevent or hinder the selectmen or any 
 person authorized by them in the proper use of 
 
FISH LAWS. 41 
 
 the said lands, as above provided, shall forfeit a 
 sum not exceeding twenty dollars for each offence. 
 
 Section 4. Any person not authorized by the 
 selectmen of the said towns as above provided 
 who shall fish in the said rivers at any time in the 
 close season, and any person who violates any 
 provision of this act shall be liable to a fine of one 
 dollar for each fish or part thereof in respect to 
 which the violation occurs. 
 
 Section 5. This act shall take effect upon its 
 acceptance by a majority vote of the legal voters 
 of the said towns present and voting thereon at 
 any annual or special town meeting. 
 
 Eight of Search. 
 
 Section 77. Any commissioner on fisheries 
 and game, deputy commissioner, member of the 
 district police, sheriff, deputy sheriff, police 
 officer or constable, within his jurisdiction, may 
 search for and seize, without warrant, any 
 smelts which he has reason to suspect were taken 
 contrary to the provisions of section seventy- 
 four, and the net, seine, trap or other device and 
 the vessel, boat, craft or other apparatus used in 
 connection with such receiving, or other violation 
 of said section, and the cask, barrel or other 
 vessel or wrapper containing said smelts. Said 
 officer may libel said property according to law, 
 or, at his discretion, sell the same or any part 
 thereof at private sale or by public auction, and 
 libel the net proceeds of such sale according to 
 law, in the same manner and with the same effect 
 as if such proceeds were the property itself. 
 
 FORFEITURE OF FISH, BOATS, ETC. 
 Forfeiture of boats and apparatus. 
 
 Section 78. Whoever takes any fish in vio- 
 lation of the provisions of section twenty-six, 
 twenty-nine, thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty- 
 nine, forty, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, 
 
42 FISH LAWS. 
 
 forty-seven, fifty-eight, sixty-two, sixty-eight, 
 sixty-nine, seventy-two, or one hundred and 
 thirty-two, or whoever violates the provisions 
 of sections twenty-six, thirty-three or seventy- 
 six shall, in addition to the penalties therein 
 provided, forfeit the boat and apparatus used. 
 
 Forfeiture of fish and apparatus. 
 
 Section 79. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of sections twenty-six, thirty-two, forty-one, 
 forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty-two and fifty-nine 
 shall, in addition to the penalties therein pro- 
 vided, forfeit the fish taken and the apparatus 
 used. 
 
 Duty of superintendents, clerks and others. 
 
 Section 80. Every superintendent, clerk or 
 other person who has charge of a market, pro- 
 vision store or other place in which fish are sold, 
 and who has reasonable cause to believe that any 
 fish taken in violation of law has been offered for 
 sale on such premises, shall immediately give in- 
 formation thereof to a constable or trial justice 
 in the city or town in which said premises are 
 situated; and for each neglect so to do shall be 
 punished by a fine of not less than five nor more 
 than fifty dollars. 
 
 PIKE PERCH. 
 
 Acts of 1908, Chap. 488. 
 Relative to pike perch caught in certain waters. 
 
 Section 1. No corporation, association or 
 person who shall have in possession in this com- 
 monwealth any pike perch caught in that part of 
 Lake Champlain or its tributaries known as 
 Missisquoi bay, lying and being in the province 
 of Quebec, or in the Richelieu river, which is the 
 outlet of said lake, between February first and 
 June first. 
 
 Section 2. The commissioners on fisheries 
 and game and their deputies are hereby author- 
 
FISH LAWS. 43 
 
 ized to search for, to seize, and to confiscate, 
 without a warrant, pike perch held in possession 
 in violation of the preceding section, and it shall 
 be the duty of every officer designated in section 
 four of chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws, 
 thus without a warrant to search for and seize 
 pike perch so held in possession, and to report 
 the seizure to the said commissioners, who shall 
 authorize the sale of such fish; and the proceeds 
 of such sale shall be paid into the treasury of the 
 commonwealth. 
 
 Section 3. Any company, association or per- 
 son violating the provisions of this act shall be 
 liable to a penalty of fifty dollars, and ten dollars 
 additional for each pike perch held in possession 
 in violation of the provisions of this act. Chapter 
 one hundred and seventy-nine of the acts of the 
 year nineteen hundred and six is hereby repealed. 
 
 SHINERS AND STURGEON. 
 
 Acts of 1906, Chap. 239. 
 Taking of shiners for bait. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be lawful to take shiners 
 for bait in any of the waters of the common- 
 wealth by means of a circular or hoop net not 
 exceeding six feet in diameter, or by means of a 
 rectangular net other than a seine, containing not 
 more than thirty-six square feet of net surface. 
 
 Section 2. The provisions of section twenty- 
 six of chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws, 
 as amended by chapter three hundred and eight 
 of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and four; 
 and of section one hundred and thirty-two of said 
 chapter ninety-one, shall not apply to a person 
 taking fish other than shiners by means of the 
 apparatus described in section one: provided, 
 that such other fish are immediate^ returned 
 alive to the water. 
 
44 FISH LAWS. 
 
 AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1905, CHAP. 181. 
 
 Taking shiners for bait in the Merrimac and Connecti- 
 cut rivers. 
 
 Section 81. During October and November 
 any person may, for the purpose of taking 
 shiners for bait, draw a net or seine at any point 
 in the Merrimac and Connecticut rivers, and their 
 tributaries, except within four hundred yards of 
 any fishway; and if any other fish so caught are 
 immediately returned alive to the waters from 
 which they were taken, the penalties prescribed 
 in sections forty-six, forty-seven, forty-nine, 
 seventy-eight and seventy-nine shall not apply to 
 the taking of such fish. 
 
 Sturgeon nets. 
 
 Section 82. A person who uses a net or seine 
 having a mesh which stretches at least twelve 
 inches shall not incur a penalty for taking stur- 
 geon in the tidal waters of the Merrimac river. 
 
 EELS, CLAMS, QUAHAUGS AND SCALLOPS. 
 
 Acts of 1910, Chap. 177. 
 The taking of scallops. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to take from 
 the flats or waters of the commonwealth scallops 
 other than adult scallops, or to sell or offer for 
 sale or have in possession such scallops so taken. 
 For the purposes of this act an adult scallop shall 
 be a scallop with a well defined raised annual 
 growth line. Scallops taken from the tide waters 
 of the commonwealth shall be culled out when 
 taken, and all scallops other than adult scallops 
 so taken shall immediately be returned alive to 
 tide water which is at least three feet deep at 
 mean low water, but the provisions of this sec- 
 tion shall not apply to scallops other than adult 
 scallops unavoidably taken: provided, that the 
 number so taken at any one time does not exceed 
 five per cent of the total catch after being culled 
 
FISH LAWS. 45 
 
 as herein provided. All scallops taken in ac- 
 cordance with the provisions of this act shall be 
 taken ashore in the shell. 
 
 Section 2. No person shall take scallops be- 
 tween the first day of April and the first day of 
 October from the flats or waters of the common- 
 wealth, or buy or sell or have in possession scal- 
 lops so taken; but the provisions of this section 
 shall not apply to the taking of scallops for bait 
 in the waters adjacent to the town of Nantucket 
 from the first day of April to the fifteenth day of 
 May, inclusive, nor shall they prohibit any person 
 at any time from taking scallops by hand for 
 food for his own personal or family use. 
 
 Section 3. No person shall take more than 
 ten bushels of scallops including shells in one day. 
 
 Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
 ceeding twenty-five dollars. Possession of scal- 
 lops, other than adult scallops, except as is other- 
 wise provided in section one, shall be prima facie 
 evidence that such scallops were taken contrary 
 to law. 
 
 Section 5. Chapter four hundred and three 
 of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and nine 
 and all acts and parts of acts inconsistent here- 
 with are hereby repealed. 
 
 City and town jurisdiction. 
 
 Section 85. The mayor and aldermen of 
 cities and the selectmen of towns, if so instructed 
 by their cities and towns, may, except as pro- 
 vided in the two preceding sections, control, 
 regulate or prohibit the taking of eels, clams, 
 quahaugs and scallops within the same; and 
 may grant permits prescribing the times and 
 methods of taking eels and such shellfish within 
 such cities and towns and make such other regu- 
 lations in regard to said fisheries as they may 
 deem expedient. But an inhabitant of the com- 
 monwealth, without such permit, may take eels 
 
46 FISH LAWS. 
 
 and the shellfish above-named for his own family 
 use from the waters of his own or any other city 
 or town, and may take from the waters of his 
 own city or town any of such shellfish for bait, 
 not exceeding three bushels, including shells, in 
 any one day, subject to the general rules of the 
 mayor and aldermen and selectmen, respectively, 
 as to the times and methods of taking such fish. 
 The provisions of this section shall not authorize 
 the taking of fish in violation of the provisions 
 of sections forty-four and forty-five. Whoever 
 takes any eels or any of said shellfish without 
 such permit, and in violation of the provisions 
 of this section, shall forfeit not less than three nor 
 more than fifty dollars. 
 
 Acts of 1904, Chap. 269. 
 Quahaugs in Eastham, Orleans and Wellfleet. 
 
 Section 1. No person shall take quahaugs 
 from their natural beds, or wilfully obstruct or 
 interfere with such natural beds, within the towns 
 of Eastham, Orleans, and Wellfleet except as 
 hereinafter provided. 
 
 Section 2. No inhabitant of said towns shall 
 sell or offer for sale little neck clams or quahaugs 
 which measure less than one and one half inches 
 across the widest part, and no person shall in an}' 
 of said towns sell or offer for sale little neck clams 
 or quahaugs which measure less than one and 
 one half inches across the widest part. 
 
 Section 3. The selectmen of any one of said 
 towns may give to any inhabitants of any of said 
 towns permits in writing to take quahaugs from 
 their beds in the towns which the selectmen rep- 
 resent at such times, in such quantities and for 
 such uses as they shall deem expedient. Such 
 permits shall be good for such time as the select- 
 men may determine, not exceeding one year. 
 Any inhabitant of the commonwealth may with- 
 out such permit take from the natural beds in said 
 towns, quahaugs for the use of his family, not 
 
FISH LAWS. 47 
 
 exceeding in quantity one bushel, including shells, 
 in any one day; and any fisherman may without 
 such permit take quahaugs from the natural beds 
 in his own town for bait for his own use, not ex- 
 ceeding in quantity one bushel, including shells, 
 in any one day. 
 
 Section 4. The selectmen of the said towns 
 may, in their respective towns, grant licenses or 
 permits for such periods, not exceeding two 
 years, and under such conditions as they may 
 deem proper, not however covering more than 
 seventy-five feet square in area, to any inhab- 
 itants of the towns to bed quahaugs in any waters, 
 flats and creeks within the town at any place 
 where there is no natural quahaug bed, not im- 
 pairing the private rights of any person or materi- 
 ally obstructing any navigable waters. It shall 
 be unlawful for any person, except the licensee 
 and his agents, to take any quahaugs in or re- 
 move them from the territory covered by any 
 such license. 
 
 Section 5. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act or of any regulation made by the 
 selectmen under authority hereof shall be pun- 
 ished by a fine of not more than one hundred 
 dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six 
 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 
 
 Section 6 [as amended by Acts of 1905, Chap. 
 265]. So much of section eighty-five of chapter 
 ninety-one of the Revised Laws as is inconsistent 
 herewith shall not apply to the said towns; and 
 nothing herein contained shall be construed to 
 affect the rights of the inhabitants of Orleans and 
 Eastham under section five of chapter sixty-four 
 of the acts of the year seventeen hundred and 
 ninety-six, approved March third, seventeen 
 hundred and ninety-seven. 
 
 Section 7. This act shall take effect in any of 
 said towns only upon its acceptance by a ma- 
 jority of the voters thereof present and voting 
 thereon at a meeting called for the purpose. 
 
48 FISH LAWS. 
 
 Acts of 1904, Chap. 282. 
 Cultivation of shellfish. 
 
 Section 1. Cities by a two thirds vote of each 
 branch of the city council in cities having a com- 
 mon council and a board of aldermen, or by a 
 two thirds vote of the board of aldermen in 
 cities not having a common council, and towns 
 by a two thirds vote of the voters present and 
 voting thereon at any town meeting called for the 
 purpose, may appropriate money for the culti- 
 vation, propagation and protection of shellfish. 
 The mayor and aldermen of cities, and the select- 
 men of towns, when so authorized by their re- 
 spective cities and towns, may declare from time 
 to time a close season for shellfish for not more 
 than three years in such waters or flats within 
 the limits of their respective cities and towns as 
 they deem proper, and may plant and grow shell- 
 fish in such waters and flats: provided, that no 
 private rights are impaired ; and provided, further, 
 that when any close season, declared as aforesaid, 
 shall have ended, the flats and waters so closed 
 shall be opened subject to the provisions of sec- 
 tion eighty-five of chapter ninety-one of the Re- 
 vised Laws, and of any special laws. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever takes shellfish in viola- 
 tion of the provisions of this act shall forfeit not 
 less than three nor more than fifty dollars. Any 
 officer qualified to serve criminal process, and 
 special constables, designated under the pro- 
 visions of section one hundred and thirty-four of 
 chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws, shall 
 have power to enforce the provisions of this act, 
 with all the powers conferred by said section. 
 
 Section 3. District courts and trial justices 
 shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the 
 superior court of all offences under this act. 
 
FISH LAWS. 49 
 
 Acts of 1909, Chap. 469. 
 Planting, cultivating and bedding quahaugs. 
 
 Section 1. Upon an application in writing, 
 the mayor and aldermen of a city or the selectmen 
 of a town may grant a written license subject to 
 such rules and regulations as are approved by the 
 city council of the city, or by the voters of the 
 town at an annual or special town meeting, for 
 the purpose of planting and cultivating quahaugs 
 upon and in the flats and creeks of their respec- 
 tive cities and towns below mean low water mark 
 and within the limits to be specified in the license, 
 for a term of not more than ten or less than five 
 years, to any person who has resided in the state 
 or has been a taxpayer in the city or town for not 
 less than one year preceding the date of his appli- 
 cation ; and all such licenses may be assigned by 
 the licensee to any person who has been a resident 
 of the state or a taxpayer in the city or town for 
 not less than one year preceding the date of the 
 assignment, but shall not be assigned or trans- 
 ferred without the written consent of the mayor 
 and aldermen of such city or the selectmen of 
 such town. 
 
 Section 2. The mayor and aldermen of a 
 city or the selectmen of a town may grant to any 
 person who has received a license in accordance 
 with the provisions of the preceding section an 
 additional license for the purpose of bedding qua- 
 haugs and of gathering the seed from the same 
 between high and low water mark for such period, 
 not exceeding five years, and under such condi- 
 tions as they may deem proper. The territory 
 to be covered by the said license shall not include 
 more than one half acre. 
 
 Section 3. The licenses herein provided for 
 shall not be granted if their exercises would ma- 
 terially obstruct navigable water. No license 
 shall be granted under this act until after a public 
 hearing, stating the name and residence of the 
 
50 FISH LAWS. 
 
 applicant, the date of the filing of the application, 
 the location, area, and description of the grounds 
 applied for, due notice of which has been posted 
 in three or more public places, and published in 
 a newspaper, if there be any, published in the city 
 or town in which the premises are situated, at 
 least ten days before the time fixed for the hear- 
 ing. 
 
 Section 4. It shall be unlawful, for any per- 
 son, except the licensee or his agents or assignees, 
 to dig or take quahaugs or quahaug seed within 
 the territory covered by a license granted here- 
 under, or to remove the same from the said ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 Section 5. A license granted hereunder shall 
 describe by metes and bounds the waters, flats 
 and creeks to which the license is applicable, and 
 it shall have no force until it is recorded with the 
 clerk of the city or town granting the same, and 
 the licensee shall pay annually to the city or town 
 a fee of not less than one dollar nor more than five 
 dollars per acre for the license, as the mayor and 
 aldermen of the city and the selectmen of the 
 town may determine. A recording fee of fifty 
 cents shall be paid to the clerk of the city or town 
 for recording the said license or an assignment 
 thereof. The said license and any assignments 
 thereof shall be recorded in a book to be kept for 
 the purpose in the office of the clerk of the city 
 or town, and such books shall be open to inspec- 
 tion by the public. Forms for licenses and for 
 assignments shall be provided by the mayor and 
 aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town at 
 the expense of the citjr or town. 
 
 Section 6. Before granting any license here- 
 under, the mayor and aldermen of a city or the 
 selectmen of a town shall cause to be made a sur- 
 vey and plan of the territory within which li- 
 censes are to be granted, and shall cause to be 
 marked upon a copy of such plan to be kept in 
 the office of the city or town clerk the territory 
 
FISH LAWS. 51 
 
 covered by any license issued by them. It shall 
 be the duty of the licensee upon receiving his 
 license to cause the territory covered thereby to 
 be plainly marked out by stakes, buoys, ranges 
 or monuments which shall be maintained by him 
 during the term of the license. Failure to place 
 or to maintain the same shall be sufficient cause 
 for revocation of the license by the authority 
 granting the same. 
 
 Section 7. If it appears to the mayor and 
 aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town 
 granting a license hereunder that the licensee or 
 his assignee does not actually occupy and use in 
 good faith for the purpose specified in sections 
 one and two the territory covered by the license, 
 they shall petition the superior court of the 
 county wherein the territory is situated to ap- 
 point a commission of one or more persons to in- 
 vestigate and report to the court as to the use 
 and occupancy of such territory; and the court 
 shall appoint a commission of one or more per- 
 sons who, after twelve days' notice to the peti- 
 tioners and the respondent, shall hear the peti- 
 tioners and respondent and shall transmit their 
 findings to the court. If it shall appear to the 
 court that the said territory is not used and occu- 
 pied in good faith for the purpose stated in the 
 license, the court may order that use of the terri- 
 tory shall revert to the city or town and that all 
 stakes or buoys or other appliances marking the 
 same shall be removed. The costs upon said 
 petition shall be assessed as the court may direct. 
 
 Section 8. The licensee, his heirs or assignees 
 shall for the purposes described in the license 
 have the exclusive use of the territory described 
 therein during the term of the license and may in 
 an action of tort recover treble damages of any 
 person who, without his or their consent, digs or 
 takes quahaugs or other shellfish in the territory 
 covered by the license or removes the same there- 
 from. Whoever so digs, takes or removes qua- 
 
52 FISH LAWS. 
 
 haugs or other shellfish shall, in addition, be 
 subject to a penalty of twenty dollars for each 
 offence. 
 
 Section 9. All acts and parts of acts incon- 
 sistent herewith are hereby repealed. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 499. 
 
 Planting and cultivating clams and quahaugs in the 
 town of Barnstable. 
 
 Section 1. The selectmen of the town of 
 Barnstable may, by a writing under their hands, 
 grant a license for such a term of years, not ex- 
 ceeding five, as they, in their discretion, may 
 deem for the public good, to any citizen of the 
 said town, to plant, cultivate and dig clams and 
 quahaugs upon and in any flats and creeks in the 
 town ; not, however, impairing the private rights 
 of any person. The territory covered by any 
 such license shall not be less than two nor more 
 than five acres for each clam or quahaus; grant. 
 The license may be assigned by the licensee to 
 any person who is a citizen of the town, but only 
 with the written consent of the selectmen. 
 
 Section 2. The licenses herein provided for 
 shall not be granted if their exercise would ma- 
 terially obstruct navigable waters. No license 
 shall be granted under this act until after a public 
 hearing, notice of which has been given in a news- 
 paper published in said town at least ten days be- 
 fore the hearing. Such notice shall state the date 
 of the hearing, the name and residence of the ap- 
 plicant, the date of the filing of the application, 
 and the location, area, and description of the 
 grounds applied for. 
 
 Section 3. The license shall describe by 
 metes and bounds the flats and creeks so appro- 
 priated, and shall be recorded by the town clerk 
 before it shall have any force; and the licensee 
 shall pay to the selectmen for their use two dol- 
 lars, and to the town clerk fifty cents. 
 
 Section 4. The licensee, and his heirs and 
 assigns, shall, for the purposes aforesaid, have 
 
FISH LAWS. 53 
 
 the exclusive use of the flats and creeks described 
 in the license, during the time specified therein, 
 and may in an action of tort recover treble dam- 
 ages of any person who, without his or their con- 
 sent, digs or takes clams and quahaugs from such 
 flats or creeks during the continuance of the li- 
 cense. 
 
 Section 5. The town of Barnstable, at any 
 legal meeting called for the purpose, may make 
 such by-laws as the town may from time to time 
 deem expedient, to protect and preserve the 
 shellfisheries within said town: provided, always, 
 that no such by-law shall infringe the laws of the 
 commonwealth . 
 
 Section 6. If it appears to the selectmen that 
 the licensee, or his heirs or assigns, for a period 
 of two years fail actually to use and occupy the 
 grant for the purposes specified in the license, 
 they may, after a public hearing, thirty days' 
 notice of which shall be given to the licensee, re- 
 voke the license, and the use of the territory 
 shall revert to the town. 
 
 Section 7. Whoever takes any shellfish from 
 the waters of the town of Barnstable in violation 
 of anj'- by-law established by the town, or of any 
 provision of this act, shall for every offence pay a 
 fine of not less than five nor more than ten dollars, 
 and the costs of prosecution, and one dollar for 
 every bushel of shellfish so taken. 
 
 Section 8. All acts and parts of acts incon- 
 sistent herewith are hereby repealed. 
 
 Acts of 1906, Chap. 477. 
 Protection of shellfish in the town of Dartmouth. 
 
 Section 1. No person shall take any shellfish 
 from their beds or wilfully obstruct the growth 
 of any shellfish within the town of Dartmouth, 
 except as is hereinafter provided. 
 
 Section 2. The selectmen of said town may 
 give permits in writing to any person to take 
 shellfish from their beds within said town at such 
 times, in such quantities, for such uses and by 
 
54 FISH LAWS. 
 
 such methods as they shall deem expedient. 
 They shall grant such permits to any inhabitant 
 of the town to take from the beds in said town 
 shellfish for the use of himself and his family not 
 exceeding in quantity one half bushel including 
 shells in any one day. They shall grant such 
 permits to any fishermen to take shellfish from 
 said beds for bait for his own use not exceeding in 
 quantity one bushel including shells in any one 
 day. Such permits shall be signed by the select- 
 men, shall be recorded in a book kept for the pur- 
 pose and shall remain in force for one year from 
 their date. 
 
 Section 3. Every person taking shellfish 
 from their beds within said town under the pro- 
 visions of this act shall at the time of such taking 
 have with him the permit granted to him as 
 above provided and shall exhibit it upon demand 
 to any constable of the town or other officer 
 charged with the duty of enforcing the provisions 
 of this act. 
 
 Section 4. No person shall take from their 
 beds in said town or sell or offer for sale or have 
 in his possession any little neck clams or quahaugs 
 measuring less than one and one half inches 
 across the widest part. 
 
 Section 5. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
 than ten or more than one hundred dollars. 
 
 Section 6. The third district court of Bristol 
 shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the su- 
 perior court of all offences under this act. 
 
 Section 7. So much of section eighty-five of 
 chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws as is 
 inconsistent herewith shall not apply to the town 
 of Dartmouth. 
 
 LOBSTERS, TAUTOG AND OTHER FISH. 
 
 Egg lobsters. 
 
 Section 86. Whoever at any time catches or 
 takes or has in his possession with intent to sell, 
 or sells, any female lobster bearing eggs shall be 
 
FISH LAWS. 55 
 
 punished by a fine of not less than ten nor more 
 than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for 
 not less than one nor more than three months for 
 each offence; but a person who catches or takes 
 any such lobster and immediately returns it alive 
 to the waters from which it was taken shall not 
 be subject to such penalty. The provisions of 
 this section shall not apply to lobsters spawning 
 in lobster cars if they are immediately returned 
 alive to the waters from which they were taken. 
 Exposure for sale or possession otherwise than as 
 herein provided shall be prima facie evidence of 
 an intent to sell. 
 
 Town officers to enforce preceding section. 
 
 Section 87. The mayor and aldermen of 
 cities, the selectmen of towns, police officers and 
 constables shall cause the provisions of the pre- 
 ceding section to be enforced in their respective 
 cities and towns. 
 
 AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1907, CHAP. 303. 
 
 Legal length of lobsters. 
 
 Section 88. Whoever sells or offers for sale or 
 has in his possession an uncooked lobster less than 
 nine inches in length, or a cooked lobster less than 
 eight and three quarters inches in length, meas- 
 uring from the extremity of the bone protruding 
 from the head to the end of the bone of the middle 
 flipper of the tail of the lobster, extended on its 
 back its natural length, shall forfeit not more 
 than five dollars for every such lobster, one half 
 to the use of the city or town in which the offence 
 is committed and one half to the commonwealth; 
 and in all prosecutions under the provisions of 
 this section any mutilation of a lobster, cooked 
 or uncooked, which affects its measurements shall 
 be prima facie evidence that the lobster is less 
 than the required length and the possession of any 
 lobster, cooked or uncooked, which is not of the 
 required length shall be prima facie evidence to 
 convict. 
 
56 FISH LAWS. 
 
 Mutilation unlawful. 
 
 Section 89. Whoever, before a lobster is 
 cooked, mutilates it by severing the tail from the 
 body, or has such tail in possession, shall be 
 punished by a fine of five dollars for each offence ; 
 and in all prosecutions under the provisions of 
 this section the possession, by any person, of the 
 tail of any uncooked lobster so severed from the 
 body shall be prima facie evidence to convict. 
 
 Detail of district police. 
 
 Section 90. The governor, upon the written 
 request of the commissioners on fisheries and 
 game or one of them, may detail one or more of 
 the district police from any district or town to 
 enforce the provisions of section eighty-eight. 
 
 Right of search. 
 
 Section 91. For the purpose of enforcing the 
 provisions of section eighty-eight, any one of the 
 commissioners on fisheries and game or their 
 deputy or any member of the district police may 
 search in suspected places for, seize and remove 
 lobsters which have been unlawfully taken, held 
 or offered for sale. 
 
 Acts of 1909, Chap. 265. 
 Catching of lobsters restricted to residents. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
 son not being a citizen of the commonwealth to 
 set or cause to be set any net or trap for the catch- 
 ing of lobsters in the waters of the commonwealth, 
 unless such person has been a continuous resident 
 of the state for at least one year prior to such 
 setting or keeping: provided, however, that the 
 mayor and aldermen of any city, or the select- 
 men of any town may grant permits in writing to 
 any temporary resident of such city or town to 
 set lobster pots in the waters thereof for his own 
 family use. 
 
FISH LAWS. 57 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
 ing twenty dollars for each offence. 
 
 Section 3. Any commissioner of fisheries 
 and game, or deputy commissioner, and any mem- 
 ber of the district police, and any deputy sheriff, 
 police officer or constable, within his jurisdiction, 
 may seize and destroy any pot set or kept in vio- 
 lation of this act. 
 
 Section 4. Section ninety-two of chapter 
 ninety-one of the Revised Laws is hereby re- 
 pealed. 
 
 Commissioners' rights. 
 
 Section 93. The commissioners on fisheries 
 and game may occupy and use any small es- 
 tuaries or creeks within the commonwealth, not 
 exceeding six, for the scientific investigation of 
 the habits, propagation and distribution of lob- 
 sters, if such occupation and use does not impair 
 the private rights of any person or materially 
 obstruct any navigable waters. Notice of such 
 occupation shall be conspicuously posted and 
 maintained by said commissioners at the nearest 
 points to said estuaries and creeks, and shall be 
 recorded in the registry of deeds in the county in 
 which they are situated. 
 
 Penalty. 
 
 Section 94. Whoever, after the posting and 
 recording of such notice, catches or takes any 
 lobster from any estuary or creek so occupied as 
 aforesaid shall be punished as provided in section 
 eighty-six. 
 
 Non-residential prohibition upon taking lobsters and 
 fish in Fairhaven, New Bedford, Dartmouth and 
 Westport. 
 
 Section 95. No person living without this 
 commonwealth shall take any lobsters, tautog, 
 bass or other fish within the harbors, streams or 
 waters of Fairhaven, New Bedford, Dartmouth 
 
58 FISH LAWS. 
 
 or Westport for the purpose of carrying them 
 thence in vessels or smacks of any size whatever 
 owned without this commonwealth, nor in any of 
 more than fifteen tons burden owned within this 
 commonwealth, under a penalty of ten dollars 
 for each offence and a forfeiture of all fish and 
 lobsters so taken. 
 
 Territorial definition. 
 
 Section 96. For the purposes of the preceding 
 section, the waters and shores of the places 
 therein mentioned shall be deemed to extend 
 from the line of the state of Rhode Island to the 
 line of the county of Plymouth, and to include all 
 the waters, islands and rocks lying within one 
 mile of the mainland. 
 
 Penalty. 
 
 Section 97. If, within the harbors, streams, 
 or waters of any place on the sea coast which 
 accepts the provisions of this section or has 
 accepted the corresponding provisions of earlier 
 laws, a person who lives without the common- 
 wealth takes, for the purpose of carrying thence, 
 any lobsters, tautog, bass, bluefish or scuppaug, 
 or if a person who lives in this commonwealth 
 takes and carries away from such place any such 
 fish or lobsters in vessels or smacks of more than 
 fifteen tons burden, he shall forfeit for each 
 offence not more than twenty dollars, and all the 
 fish and lobsters so taken. 
 
 Transportation from Provincetown. 
 
 Section 98. No person shall take lobsters 
 within the waters and shores of the town of 
 Provincetown for the purpose of carrying them 
 from said waters in a vessel or smack of more 
 than fifteen tons burden, or for the purpose of 
 putting them on board of such vessel or smack to 
 be transported to any place, unless a permit is 
 first obtained therefor from the selectmen of said 
 
FISH LAWS. 59 
 
 town, who may grant the same for such amount, 
 to be paid to the use of the town, as they shall 
 deem proper. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of this section shall forfeit ten dollars for each 
 offence; and a further amount of ten dollars for 
 every hundred lobsters over the first hundred 
 taken or found on board of any such vessel or 
 smack, and in that proportion for any smaller 
 number. For the purposes of this section, the 
 waters and shores of Provincetown shall be 
 deemed to be as follows: beginning at Race 
 Point, one half mile from the shore, and thence 
 running by said shore to the end of Long Point 
 which forms the harbor of Provincetown, and 
 from the end of Long Point one half mile and in- 
 cluding the harbor within the town of Province- 
 town. 
 
 Limitation in Buzzard's bay. 
 
 Section 99. Whoever, between the first day 
 of April and the first day of July, inclusive, takes 
 more than one hundred pounds a week of lob- 
 sters, tautog, bass or scuppaug in the bays, har- 
 bors, ponds, rivers or creeks of the waters of 
 Buzzard's bay, within one mile from the shore 
 and within the jurisdiction of the towns of 
 Bourne and Wareham, shall forfeit not more 
 than fifty dollars. 
 
 Acts of 1904, Chap. 408. 
 Authorizing 1 purchase of egg-bearing lobsters. 
 
 Section 1. The commissioners on fisheries 
 and game are hereby authorized and empowered 
 to purchase, at a rate not exceeding twenty-five 
 per cent above the market price, lobsters with 
 eggs attached, caught along the shore of this 
 commonwealth. Whoever catches any such 
 lobsters with eggs attached may, after receiving 
 a permit from the commissioners on fisheries and 
 game, safely store the same in lobster cars or 
 sections of cars used for that purpose only, and 
 
60 FISH LAWS. 
 
 may keep them separate from other lobsters until 
 such time as the said commissioners or some per- 
 son or persons designated by them can gather 
 and pay for them. The commissioners and their 
 agent shall liberate them in the vicinity of the 
 location where they were caught ; or they may at 
 their discretion sell any portion or all of them to 
 the officer in charge of the United States fish 
 hatchery for artificial propagation, the proceeds 
 to be applied to the appropriation made for the 
 enforcement of this act. 
 
 OYSTERS AND OTHER SHELLFISH. 
 
 Oysters. 
 
 Section 100. Whoever takes oysters from 
 their beds, or destroys them or wilfully obstructs 
 their growth therein, except as is provided in the 
 following sections, shall forfeit two dollars for 
 every bushel of oysters, including the shells, so 
 taken or destroyed. 
 
 Town officials may grant permits. 
 
 Section 101. The mayor and aldermen of a 
 city or selectmen of a town in which there are 
 oyster beds may grant a permit in writing to any 
 person to take oysters from their beds at such 
 times, in such quantities and for such uses as they 
 shall express in their permit; but every inhab- 
 itant of such city or town, except the town of 
 Yarmouth, may, without such permit, take 
 oysters from the beds therein for the use of his 
 family, from the first day of September to the 
 first day of June, not exceeding in any week two 
 bushels, including shells. 
 
 Penalties and permits. 
 
 Section 102. Whoever takes any other shell- 
 fish from their beds, or destroys them or wilfully 
 obstructs their growth therein, except as is here- 
 inafter provided, shall forfeit one dollar for 
 every bushel of such other shellfish, including 
 
FISH LAWS. 61 
 
 the shells. But the mayor and aldermen of a 
 city or selectmen of a town may at any time give 
 a permit in writing to any person to take such 
 other shellfish from their beds therein, at such 
 times, in such quantities and for such uses as 
 they shall express in their permit; but every in- 
 habitant of each of said places may, without such 
 permit, take such other shellfish from the beds 
 therein for the use of his family. 
 
 Rights of Indians and fishermen. 
 
 Section 103. The provisions of the three pre- 
 ceding sections shall not deprive native Indians 
 of the privilege of digging shellfish for their own 
 consumption, or prevent a fisherman, who is an 
 inhabitant of this commonwealth, from taking 
 shellfish which he may want for bait, not exceed- 
 ing at any one time seven bushels, including the 
 shells. 
 
 Oyster licenses. 
 
 Section 104. The mayor and aldermen of a 
 city or selectmen of a town may, by writing under 
 their hands, grant a license for a term not ex- 
 ceeding ten years to any inhabitant thereof to 
 plant, grow and dig oysters at all times of the 
 year, or to plant oyster shells for the purpose of 
 catching oyster seed, upon and in any waters, 
 flats and creeks therein, at any place where 
 there is no natural oyster bed; not, however, 
 impairing the private rights of any person, nor 
 materially obstructing any navigable waters. 
 
 Limits of areas. 
 
 Section 105. Such license shall describe by 
 metes and bounds the waters, flats and creeks 
 so appropriated and shall be recorded by the city 
 or town clerk before it shall have any force, and 
 the licensee shall pay to the mayor and alder- 
 men or selectmen, for their use, two dollars, and 
 to the clerk fifty cents. The shore line of such 
 
62 FISH LAWS. 
 
 licensed premises shall be the line of mean low 
 water for the planting and growing of oysters, 
 and the line of high water for the planting of 
 oyster shells, but the provisions of this section 
 shall not authorize the placing of such shells 
 upon the land of a riparian owner between high 
 and low water mark without his written consent. 
 
 Public hearings. 
 
 Section 106. Such license shall not be granted 
 until after a public hearing, due notice of which 
 shall have been posted in three or more public 
 places in the city or town in which the premises 
 are situated at least seven days before the time 
 fixed for such hearing. 
 
 Who can have a license. 
 
 Section 107. Such license shall be granted, 
 assigned or transferred only to inhabitants of the 
 city or town in which the licensed premises are 
 situated, and shall not be assigned or transferred 
 without the written consent of the mayor and 
 aldermen of such city or the selectmen of such 
 town. 
 
 Rights of licensee. 
 
 Section 108. The licensee, his heirs and 
 assigns shall, for the purposes aforesaid, have the 
 exclusive use of the waters, flats and creeks 
 described in the license during the time therein 
 specified; and may, in an action of tort, recover 
 treble damages of any person who, without his or 
 their consent, digs or takes oysters or oyster 
 shells from such waters, flats or creeks during the 
 continuance of the license; and whoever digs or 
 takes oysters or oyster shells therefrom without 
 such consent shall also forfeit twenty dollars for 
 each offence. 
 
 Revocation of license. 
 
 Section 109. If the licensee fails for two 
 years after the license has been granted to plant 
 
FISH LAWS. 63 
 
 and grow oysters or to plant oyster shells in the 
 waters, flats or creeks described in the license, it 
 shall be revoked by the officers who granted it 
 and the revocation shall be recorded by the city 
 or town clerk. 
 
 Prohibition of night fishing. 
 
 Section 110. No person shall dig, take or 
 carry away any oysters or oyster shells between 
 one hour after sunset and one hour before sun- 
 rise, by any method whatever, from any waters, 
 flats or creeks for which a license has been granted 
 under the provisions of section one hundred and 
 four. A licensee who violates the provisions of 
 this chapter relative to the planting and growing 
 of oysters or the planting of oyster shells, shall, 
 in addition to the penalties hereinafter provided, 
 forfeit his license and the oysters remaining on 
 the licensed premises. 
 
 Penalties. 
 
 Section 111. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of the preceding section, or whoever, without the 
 consent of the licensee, digs or takes any oysters 
 or oyster shells from any waters, flats or creeks 
 described in any license granted under the pro- 
 visions of section one hundred and four, during 
 the continuance of such license, shall be punished 
 by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars 
 or by imprisonment for not less than thirty days 
 nor more than six months, or by both such fine 
 and imprisonment. 
 
 Trespass forbidden. 
 
 Section 112. Whoever works a dredge, 
 oyster tongs or rakes, or any other implement for 
 the taking of shellfish of any description, upon 
 any oyster grounds or beds, other than public 
 grounds or beds, without the consent of the 
 licensee, lessee or owner thereof, or whoever, 
 while upon or sailing over any such grounds or 
 
64 FISH LAWS. 
 
 beds, casts, hauls, or has overboard any such 
 dredge, tongs, rake or other implement for the 
 taking of shellfish of any description, under any 
 pretence or for any purpose whatever, without 
 the consent of the licensee, lessee or owner, shall, 
 for the first offence, be punished by a fine of not 
 more than twenty dollars or by imprisonment for 
 not more than thirty days, and for each subse- 
 quent offence, by a fine of not more than fifty 
 dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six 
 months. 
 
 Pollution. 
 
 Section 113. The state board of health may 
 examine all complaints which may be brought to 
 its notice relative to the contamination of tidal 
 waters and flats in this commonwealth by sewage 
 or other causes, may determine, as nearly as may 
 be, the bounds of such contamination, and, if 
 necessary mark such bounds. It may also, in 
 writing, request the commissioners on fisheries 
 and game to prohibit the taking from such con- 
 taminated waters and flats of any oysters, clams, 
 quahaugs and scallops. Upon receipt of such 
 request, said commissioners shall prohibit the 
 taking of such shellfish from such contaminated 
 waters or flats for such period of time as the state 
 board of health may prescribe. 
 
 Acts of 1907, Chap. 285. 
 
 Taking from contaminated waters of clams and qua- 
 haugs for bait. 
 
 Section 1. Whenever, upon the request of 
 the state board of health under the provisions of 
 section one hundred and thirteen of chapter 
 ninety-one of the Revised Laws, the commis- 
 sioners on fisheries and game have prohibited or 
 may hereafter prohibit the taking from con- 
 taminated waters or flats in any city or town of 
 any clams or quahaugs, the board of health of 
 such city or town may grant permits in writing 
 
FISH LAWS. 65 
 
 to any person to take from such waters clams or 
 quahaugs to be used for bait only, and in such 
 quantities and upon such conditions as they shall 
 express in their permit. 
 
 Section 2. Any person holding a permit from 
 the board of health of a city or town shall keep 
 in his possession, and on his person, while acting 
 thereunder, any permit obtained by him from 
 said board of health, and shall at all times dis- 
 play the same upon the request of any person 
 authorized to enforce the provisions of this act. 
 Violation of this section shall be punished by a 
 fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than 
 fifty dollars, and in addition the permit shall be 
 revoked and shall not thereafter be issued within 
 twelve months. 
 
 Section 3. Any person who violates any of 
 the provisions of such permit shall forfeit the 
 permit and shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
 ceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprison- 
 ment for a term not exceeding three months, or 
 by both such fine and imprisonment. 
 
 Section 4. Whoever sells, or exchanges, or 
 exposes or offers for sale or exchange, or buys any 
 clams or quahaugs, taken under the provisions of 
 this act, shall be punished by a fine of not more 
 than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment 
 for a term not exceeding three months, or by 
 both such fine and imprisonment. 
 
 Penalties. 
 
 Section 114. Whoever takes any oysters, 
 clams, quahaugs or scallops from tidal waters or 
 flats from which the taking has been prohibited 
 as provided in the preceding section shall forfeit 
 not less than five nor more than ten dollars for 
 the first offence, and not less than fifty nor more 
 than one hundred dollars for each subsequent 
 offence; but such penalties shall not be incurred 
 until one week after the commissioners on 
 fisheries and game shall have caused notice of 
 
66 FISH LAWS. 
 
 such prohibition, with a description, or the 
 bounds, of the tidal waters or flats to which such 
 prohibition applies, to be published in a news- 
 paper published in the town or county in which 
 or adjacent to which the tidal waters or flats to 
 which such prohibition applies are situated. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 411. 
 
 A board of shellfish commissioners for New Bedford 
 and Fairhaven. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any person 
 at any time to dig, take, remove, buy or sell any 
 mollusk from the tide waters or flats of the Acush- 
 net river, Clark's cove and New Bedford and 
 Fairhaven harbor in areas which have been con- 
 demned or which hereafter may be condemned as 
 polluted waters or flats by the state board of 
 health, except as is hereinafter provided. 
 
 Section 2. For the purpose of carrying out 
 the provisions of this act there shall be a board 
 of shellfish commissioners, composed of the mayor 
 and the chairman of the board of health of the 
 city of New Bedford and the chairman of the se- 
 lectmen and the chairman of the board of health 
 of the town of Fairhaven, ex officiis, who shall be 
 sworn before entering upon the duties of their 
 office. The mayor of the city of New Bedford 
 shall be the chairman of the board. The board 
 shall elect a clerk who shall keep a record of all 
 proceedings of the board and shall issue all no- 
 tices and attest all papers and orders as the board 
 shall direct. 
 
 Section 3. Said board of shellfish commis- 
 sioners shall have authority to grant licenses 
 to take mollusks from the polluted waters and 
 flats in the waters mentioned in section one; and 
 the board shall make such rules and regulations, 
 subject to the approval of the state board of 
 health, as in the judgment of the licensing board 
 may be necessary for the enforcement of this act, 
 and may appoint inspectors who shall be sworn 
 to the faithful performance of their duties and 
 
FISH LAWS. 67 
 
 who shall have for the enforcement of the pro- 
 visions of this act all the powers of constables, 
 except the power of serving civil process. Any 
 of said inspectors, and any one lawfully employed 
 to enforce the provisions of this act, may for the 
 purpose of the enforcement thereof, go upon and 
 pass over the lands of any person without being 
 considered a trespasser. The licenses granted 
 hereunder may be revoked at any time by the 
 licensing board. The board shall keep a record 
 of the receipts and expenditures of money and 
 of the licenses issued, which record shall be open 
 at all times for inspection by the state board of 
 health, by the board of commissioners on fish- 
 eries and game, or by any agents authorized by 
 either of said two boards. Said licensing board 
 shall make annually a detailed report of its 
 doings to the state board of health and to the 
 board of commissioners on fisheries and game. 
 
 Section 4. The board of shellfish commis- 
 sioners may grant a first class license to any per- 
 son who is a resident of New Bedford or of Fair- 
 haven to take mollusks from the above named 
 waters and to sell the same: provided, that the 
 licensee shall forfeit his license for one year if he 
 shall take mollusks from waters outside the pol- 
 luted area without first surrendering his license; 
 and if the person holding a 'first class license 
 shall sell or otherwise dispose of mollusks taken 
 by him under his license to any person or persons 
 other than those who have a second class license 
 as hereinafter provided, or if the licensee shall 
 land the mollusks taken by him or others for any 
 other purpose than to take them to one of the 
 depots hereinafter specified for the purpose of 
 selling them, or if the licensee shall take mollusks 
 from said waters at any other time than between 
 sunrise and sunset, or shall neglect to display his 
 license number in plain view upon both sides of 
 any boat or other conveyance used by him, he 
 shall be liable to the penalties hereinafter imposed 
 for violation of this act. 
 
68 FISH LAWS. 
 
 Section 5. Any person, firm or corporation 
 may in the discretion of the board, be granted a 
 second class license to establish one or more 
 depots upon or opposite the polluted territory 
 for the purchasing and storing of mollusks from 
 the polluted waters hereinbefore specified. Said 
 depots shall be used for buying and storing mol- 
 lusks from the polluted areas only. Every per- 
 son who receives the said second class license shall 
 give to the licensing board a bond in the penal 
 sum of five thousand dollars with sureties satis- 
 factory to said board, conditioned upon buying 
 mollusks only from those holding first class li- 
 censes, and upon selling or otherwise disposing 
 of the said mollusks only to those holding third 
 class licenses as hereinafter provided, and the 
 licensee shall agree to comply with all such orders 
 and regulations pertaining to the purchase and 
 disposal of the said mollusks as shall be made by 
 the licensing board and approved by the state 
 board of health. Whoever, holding a second 
 class license, violates the condition of his bond, 
 shall forfeit the amount thereof to the licensing 
 board and in addition shall be subject to the 
 penalties hereinafter provided. 
 
 Section 6. Any person, firm or corporation, 
 including the holder of a second class license 
 hereunder who can satisfy the licensing board 
 that he or it has suitable grounds within Massa- 
 chusetts waters for planting mollusks may be 
 granted a third class license to buy, transport 
 and plant mollusks taken from the polluted ter- 
 ritory described in this act, conditioned upon 
 buying such mollusks taken from said polluted 
 waters only from those holding second class 
 licenses and upon bedding said mollusks in clean 
 waters within the city or town to be specified in 
 the license, the said city or town to be within the 
 boundaries of this commonwealth, and further 
 conditioned upon allowing said mollusks there 
 to remain for at least thirty days. The licensee 
 
FISH LAWS. 69 
 
 shall agree to comply with such orders and regu- 
 lations pertaining to the purchase, transportation 
 and planting of said mollusks as shall be made by 
 the licensing board and approved by the state 
 board of health. 
 
 Section 7. Any person or corporation who 
 violates any provision of this act, or of the rules 
 and regulations lawfully made by said board, 
 shall be liable to a fine of not more than one 
 hundred dollars or to imprisonment for not more 
 than ninety days, or to both such fine and im- 
 prisonment, and in addition thereto shall forfeit 
 any license held by him or it hereunder for one 
 year from the date of conviction of such viola- 
 tion. 
 
 Section 8. A fee of five dollars shall be 
 charged for a first class license, fifty dollars for 
 a second class license, and one dollar for a third 
 class license. All licenses granted under au- 
 thority of this act shall bear the name, age, place 
 of residence, and identifying description of the 
 licensee. Said licenses shall be valid for one 
 year from the date of issue and no longer, shall 
 not be transferable, and shall at all times be 
 produced for examination upon the demand or 
 request of any person authorized to enforce the 
 provisions of this act, or of any commissioner on 
 fisheries and game, or of a fish or game warden, 
 or on demand of any sheriff, constable, police 
 officer or other officer authorized to arrest for 
 crime. Failure or refusal to produce said license 
 upon such demand shall be prima facie evidence 
 of a violation of this act. 
 
 Section 9. All moneys received from license 
 fees under this act shall be used by the licensing 
 board for the purpose of enforcing the pro- 
 visions of this act and for purposes incident 
 thereto. If the moneys received from the li- 
 censes granted hereunder are not sufficient to 
 pay the necessary expenses incurred for the 
 purposes herein mentioned, the city of New 
 
70 FISH LAWS. 
 
 Bedford shall from time to time appropriate 
 sums of money to meet the deficiency, one half 
 of which shall be repaid by the town of Fair- 
 haven. If at the end of the year there shall be 
 a surplus after meeting all expenses, then such 
 surplus shall be divided equally between the city 
 of New Bedford and the town of Fairhaven. 
 
 Section 10. Chapter two hundred and eighty- 
 five of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
 seven is hereby repealed so far as it relates to the 
 flats and waters included within the provisions 
 of this act. 
 
 Shellfish for bait. 
 
 Section 115. No person shall take from the 
 towns of Chatham, Nantucket, Barnstable or 
 Mashpee any shellfish for bait or other use, except 
 clams and a shellfish commonly known by the 
 name of horsefeet; and no quantity exceeding 
 seven bushels of clams, including the shells, or 
 one hundred horsefeet, shall be taken in one 
 week for each vessel or craft, nor, in any case, 
 unless a permit has first been obtained from the 
 selectmen of the town. 
 
 Acts op 1903, Chap. 216. 
 Protection of shellfish, Edgartown. 
 
 Section 1. No person shall take any shellfish 
 from their beds or wilfully obstruct the growth 
 of any shellfish within the town of Edgartown, 
 except as is hereinafter provided. 
 
 _ Section 2. The selectmen of said town may 
 give permits in writing to any person to take 
 shellfish from their beds within said town, at such 
 times, in such quantities, and for such uses, as 
 they shall deem expedient. But any inhabitant 
 of said town may without such permit take from 
 the beds in said town shellfish for the use of his 
 family, not exceeding in quantity one bushel, 
 including shells, in any one day; and any fisher- 
 man may without such permit take shellfish from 
 
FISH LAWS. 71 
 
 the said beds for bait for his own use, not exceed- 
 ing in quantity one bushel, including shells, in 
 any one day. 
 
 Section 3. No person shall take from their 
 beds in said town, or sell or offer for sale, or have 
 in his possession, any little neck clams or qua- 
 haugs measuring less than one and one half 
 inches across the widest part. 
 
 Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
 than ten nor more than one hundred dollars. 
 
 Section 5. The district court of Dukes 
 County shall have concurrent jurisdiction with 
 the superior court of all offences under this act. 
 
 Section 6. So much of section eighty-five of 
 chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws as is 
 inconsistent herewith shall not apply to the town 
 of Edgar town. 
 
 REGULATION OF FISH WEIRS, NETS, 
 PURSE AND SWEEP SEINES. 
 
 Authority to construct. 
 
 Section 116. The mayor and aldermen of a 
 city and the selectmen of a town lying upon tide 
 water, except cities and towns bordering on 
 Buzzard's bay, may in writing authorize any per- 
 son to construct weirs, pound nets or fish traps 
 in said waters within the limits of such city or 
 town for a term not exceeding five years, if such 
 weirs, pound nets or fish traps do not obstruct 
 navigation or encroach on the rights of other 
 persons. 
 
 Penalty for injury. 
 
 Section 117. Whoever wilfully destroys or 
 injures any such weir, pound net or fish trap, or 
 takes fish therefrom without the consent of the 
 owner, shall forfeit not more than twenty dollars 
 to the use of the owner, and shall be liable in an 
 action to the person injured. 
 
72 FISH LAWS. 
 
 Penalty for non-authorized construction. 
 
 Section 118. Whoever constructs or main- 
 tains a weir, pound net or fish trap in tide water 
 without the authority mentioned in section one 
 hundred and sixteen, or from an island in tide 
 water without authority in writing from the 
 mayor and aldermen of every city and the select- 
 men of every town which is distant not over two 
 miles from said island, shall forfeit ten dollars 
 for each day he maintains such weir, pound net 
 or fish trap ; and he may be indicted therefor and 
 enjoined therefrom. 
 
 Statistical returns of fishing. 
 
 Section 119. The owner of every pound net, 
 weir, fyke net, or similar contrivance, of every 
 fishing pier, seine, drag or gill net, lobster pot or 
 trap used in any of the waters of this common- 
 wealth for fishing purposes, shall annually, on or 
 before the twentieth day of October, make a 
 written report, under oath, to the commissioners 
 of the number of pounds and the value of each 
 kind of edible fish caught by his pound net, weir, 
 fyke net or similar contrivance, pier, seine, drag 
 or gill net, and the number and value of lobsters 
 taken by him in pots or traps, during the year 
 last preceding the date of said report, and the 
 number and value of the devices used in such 
 catching or taking, and the number of persons em- 
 ployed therein; and for such purpose, the com- 
 missioners shall annually, on or before the fif- 
 teenth day of March, provide him, upon his 
 application, with suitable blank forms for such 
 reports, so arranged that each month's catch may 
 be separately recorded thereon; and, in filling 
 out such reports, such owner shall give the results 
 of each month's fishing, so far as may be prac- 
 ticable. Such owner shall apply to the commis- 
 sioners for such blank forms. The owner of any 
 cars or other contrivances used for keeping 
 
FISH LAWS. 73 
 
 lobsters shall have his name and residence legibly 
 marked thereon. Whoever knowingly and wil- 
 fully violates the provisions of this section shall 
 be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor 
 more than one hundred dollars. 
 
 Close time for net fishing. 
 
 Section 120. Subject to the provisions of the 
 two following sections, no person shall, from the 
 first day of May to the fifteenth day of June, set, 
 or permit to remain set, a fish pound, weir, trap, 
 fyke or similar fixed apparatus for catching fish, 
 except gill nets, between the hours of six o'clock 
 on Saturday morning and six o'clock on Sunday 
 evening, so as to catch fish in the tidal waters of 
 the counties of Dukes County or Bristol, of the 
 towns of Mattapoisett, Marion or Wareham, of 
 the westerly boundaries of Bourne and Fal- 
 mouth at and near Buzzard's bay, or of that por- 
 tion of the southerly boundary of the county of 
 Barnstable extending from the southwesterly 
 corner of the town of Falmouth easterly to Point 
 Gammon in the town of Yarmouth. Whoever 
 violates the provisions of this section shall be 
 punished by a fine of not less than one hundred 
 nor more than two hundred dollars; but all 
 prosecutions under this section shall be com- 
 menced within three months after the commis- 
 sion of the offence. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 374. 
 Taking of fish in Lynn harbor. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to take fish 
 by the use of sweep nets or seines in the waters 
 of Lynn harbor between the Point of Pines in the 
 town of Revere and Bass Point in the town of 
 Nahant, except that between the first day of 
 October and the first day of January following 
 fish may so be taken: provided, that a permit 
 therefor is first obtained from the harbor master 
 of the city of Lynn. 
 
74 FISH LAWS. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of not more 
 than one hundred dollars for each offence. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 69. 
 
 The taking of flounders and other ground fish by 
 certain apparatus in the vicinity of Pemberton point 
 and Pig rock prohibited. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to take 
 flounders or any other ground fish in the waters 
 lying inshore from a line drawn from Pemberton 
 point, in the town of Hull, to Pig rock, in the 
 town of Swampscott, by beam trawl or by any 
 apparatus other than a hook and line or an ordi- 
 nary trawl. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
 ceeding two hundred dollars for each offence. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 107. 
 Beam trawling in Boston harbor prohibited. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
 son to practice beam trawling in Boston harbor 
 or to take or attempt to take any fish by that 
 method. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
 ceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment 
 for a term not exceeding three months, or by 
 both such fine and imprisonment. 
 
 Traps prohibited in Buzzard's bay. 
 
 Section 121. Wlioever sets, uses or main- 
 tains any trap, weir, pound, yard or other sta- 
 tionary apparatus of any kind for the taking of 
 fish in the waters of Buzzard's bay or in any har- 
 bor, cove or bight thereof shall be punished by a 
 fine of not less than one hundred nor more than 
 five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not 
 more than six months. 
 
FISH LAWS. 75 
 
 Nets prohibited in Buzzard's bay. 
 
 Section 122. No person shall draw, set, 
 stretch or use any drag net, set net or gill net, 
 purse or sweep seine of any kind for taking fish 
 in the waters of Buzzard's bay or in any harbor, 
 cove or bight thereof within the jurisdiction of 
 this commonwealth. Whoever violates, or aids 
 or abets in the violation of, the provisions of this 
 section shall be punished by a fine of not more 
 than two hundred dollars for each offence. 
 
 Penalties. 
 
 Section 123. A net or seine which is used in 
 violation of the provisions of the preceding sec- 
 tion and a boat, craft or fishing apparatus which 
 is employed in such illegal use, and all fish found 
 therewith, shall be forfeited. An inhabitant of a 
 town bordering on said bay may seize and detain 
 for not more than forty-eight hours any net or 
 seine found in use in violation of the provisions 
 of the preceding section, and any boat, craft, 
 fishing apparatus and fish found therewith, so 
 that they may be seized and libelled. 
 
 When nets are nuisances. 
 
 Section 124. All nets and seines in actual use 
 which are set or stretched in violation of the pro- 
 visions of sections one hundred and twenty-two 
 and one hundred and twenty-eight are declared 
 to be common nuisances. 
 
 Fishing rights in Buzzard's bay. 
 
 Section 125. The provisions of the four pre- 
 ceding sections shall not affect the corporate 
 rights of any fishing company situated on Buz- 
 zard's bay, nor the use of nets or seines in law- 
 ful fisheries for shad or alewives in influent 
 streams of said bay. 
 
76 FISH LAWS. 
 
 Limits of Buzzard's bay. 
 
 Section 126. In the statutes of this common- 
 wealth the term "waters of Buzzard's bay" shall 
 be deemed to mean the body of water commonly 
 known as Buzzard's bay and extending south- 
 westerly to a line drawn from Cuttyhunk light- 
 house to the southerly extremity of Gooseberry 
 neck in the town of Westport. 
 
 As AMENDED BT ACTS OF 1905, CHAP. 281. 
 
 Restrictions, Edgartown and Cottage City. 1 
 
 Section 127. Whoever sets or uses or aids in 
 setting or using any seine, mesh net or gill net for 
 the purpose of catching any other fish than mack- 
 erel, or by such means catches and retains any 
 other fish than mackerel, in the waters of the 
 towns of Edgartown and Cottage City, 1 within 
 three miles from the shores thereof, may, upon 
 view of the offence by any of the commissioners 
 on fisheries and game or their deputies, or any 
 officers qualified to serve criminal process or mem- 
 ber of the district police, be arrested without 
 warrant and prosecuted by him; and on con- 
 viction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not 
 more than two hundred dollars, and, in the dis- 
 cretion of the court, shall forfeit to the common- 
 wealth all fish taken in said nets. The pro- 
 visions of this section shall not affect the rights 
 of any persons mentioned in section twenty-three 
 or the corporate rights of any fishing company; 
 nor shall they prevent the inhabitants of said 
 towns from taking menhaden for bait for their 
 own use in the waters of their respective towns in 
 the months of July, August, September and Octo- 
 ber. 
 
 Section 2. This act shall not restrict or affect 
 the authority granted by chapter three hundred 
 and one of the acts of the year nineteen hundred 
 
 i Now Oak Bluffs. 
 
FISH LAWS. 77 
 
 and four to the selectmen of the town of Edgar- 
 town to issue certain permits for the taking of 
 bait. 
 
 Acts op 1907, Chap. 301. 
 
 Restrictions in the waters of Barnstable and Mashpee 
 on Nantucket sound. 
 
 Section 1. After the passage of this act no 
 person shall draw, set, stretch or use any purse or 
 sweep seine of any kind, except as is herein- 
 after provided, for taking fish anywhere in the 
 waters of the towns of Barnstable or Mashpee on 
 Nantucket Sound, so-called, northerly of or 
 within a straight line extended from Point Gam- 
 mon to Succonessett Point ; nor in any bay, har- 
 bor, cove or bight of said waters, nor in any inlet 
 or stream flowing into the same: -provided, how- 
 ever, that nothing herein contained shall be so 
 construed as to forbid or make unlawful the 
 catching of menhaden or other small fish for bait 
 purposes, nor the use of nets for the taking of 
 herring, nor the use of dredges or drag nets for 
 the taking of scallops. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act, or aids or assists in so doing, shall be 
 punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars 
 nor more than five hundred dollars for each 
 offence, or by imprisonment for a term not ex- 
 ceeding six months. 
 
 Section 3. Any net, seine or movable device 
 for catching fish used in violation of any pro- 
 vision of this act, together with any boat, craft, 
 vessel, steamer or fishing apparatus employed in 
 such illegal use, and any fish found therewith, are 
 hereby declared to be public nuisances and for- 
 feited; and it shall be lawful for any inhabitant 
 of said Barnstable or Mashpee, or any constable, 
 police officer or deputy sheriff in the common- 
 wealth, to seize and detain, without warrant, for 
 a period not exceeding forty-eight hours, any 
 such net, seine or movable device, boat, craft, 
 vessel, steamer or fishing apparatus found in use 
 
78 FISH LAWS. 
 
 contrary to the provisions of this act, and any 
 fish found therewith, to the end that the same 
 may be libelled, if necessary, by due process of 
 law. District courts and trial justices shall have 
 concurrent jurisdiction with the superior court 
 of all offences and proceedings under the pro- 
 visions of this act, regardless of the value of the 
 property libelled. 
 
 Acts of 1904, Chap. 118. 
 Restrictions, Pleasant bay, Orleans. 
 
 Section 1 . No purse or sweep seines, set nets 
 or gill nets, for the taking of fish shall be set, 
 drawn, used or maintained in the waters of 
 Pleasant bay or its tributaries in the town of 
 Orleans; but nothing herein contained shall be 
 construed to forbid or make unlawful the main- 
 taining of traps, pounds or weirs under licenses 
 granted in accordance with section one hundred 
 and sixteen of chapter ninety-one of the Revised 
 Laws. 
 
 Section 2. Any person who shall set, draw, 
 use or maintain a purse or sweep seine, set net or 
 gill net in violation of this act shall be punished 
 by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more 
 than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for 
 a term not exceeding six months. 
 
 Section 3. Chapter one hundred and sixty- 
 three of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
 one is hereby repealed. 
 
 AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1907, CHAP. 298. 
 
 Restrictions, Westport. 
 
 Section 128. Whoever draws, sets, stretches 
 or uses any net, purse or seine of any kind for 
 taking fish in the waters of Westport river be- 
 tween the first day of May and the first day of 
 November shall be punished by a fine of not more 
 than fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not 
 more than three months, or by both such fine and 
 
FISH LAWS. 79 
 
 imprisonment; and it shall be the duty of every 
 officer designated in section four of this chapter 
 to seize fish killed contrary to the provisions of 
 this chapter and to report the seizure to the com- 
 missioners on fisheries and game, who shall 
 authorize the sale of such fish; and the proceeds 
 of any such sale, after paying the expenses 
 thereof, shall be paid into the treasury of the 
 commonwealth . 
 
 Section 2. Section one hundred and twenty- 
 nine of said chapter ninety-one is hereby repealed. 
 
 Fish wardens, Westport. 
 
 Section 130. The town of Westport shall at 
 each annual town election choose by ballot for a 
 term of three years a person who shall be sworn 
 to enforce the provisions of section one hundred 
 and twenty-eight. 
 
 Acts of 1904, Chap. 319. 
 Fish wardens, Edgartown. 
 
 The town of Edgartown is hereby authorized 
 to choose at any annual town meeting, or at any 
 meeting duly called for the purpose, fish wardens, 
 in such number and with such compensation as 
 the town may determine, who shall be sworn to 
 the faithful discharge of their duty, which shall 
 be to enforce the fishery laws in that town; and 
 for this purpose the fish wardens so chosen shall 
 have the powers which the district police now 
 have or shall hereafter have for the enforcement 
 of the fishery laws of the commonwealth. 
 
 Acts of 1904, Chap. 301. 
 Regarding eel bait, Edgartown. 
 
 Section 1. The selectmen of the town of 
 Edgartown, or any two of them, may issue to any 
 inhabitant of said town holding a permit for the 
 taking of eels by means of pots, permits for 
 the taking of bait for his own use only from the 
 
80 FISH LAWS. 
 
 waters of said town by means of nets or seines. 
 Such permits shall not be issued for the use of nets 
 or seines more than one hundred and fifty feet 
 long, or of a size of mesh of more than three 
 fourths of an inch, and shall be issued for the 
 taking of such bait only between the first day of 
 June and the fifteenth day of December in each 
 year. The provisions of this act shall not affect 
 the rights of the persons designated in section 
 twenty-three of chapter ninety-one of the Re- 
 vised Laws, or the corporate rights of any fishing 
 company. 
 
 Section 2. So much of section one hundred 
 and twenty-seven of chapter ninety-one of the 
 Revised Laws and of any other act as is incon- 
 sistent herewith is hereby repealed. 
 
 GENERAL PROVISIONS. 
 
 Penalty for robbing pots, trawls, etc. 
 
 Section 131. Whoever takes any fish or 
 lobster from a trap, trawl or seine net for catching 
 fish or lobsters, without the consent of the owner 
 thereof, and whoever wilfully molests or inter- 
 feres with such trap, trawl or seine, shall, for the 
 first offence, be punished by a fine of not less than 
 five nor more than twenty-five dollars or by im- 
 prisonment for thirty days, or by both such fine 
 and imprisonment; and for any subsequent 
 offence, by a fine of not less than twenty nor more 
 than fifty dollars or by imprisonment for sixty 
 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 
 
 AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1908, CHAP. 492. 
 
 Apparatus for taking fish which frequent fresh water. 
 Section 132. Whoever takes any fish which 
 at any season frequent fresh water, except as 
 otherwise allowed in this chapter, in any other 
 manner than by artificially or naturally baited 
 hook and hand line, shall forfeit not less than 
 five nor more than fifty dollars; but towns may 
 
FISH LAWS. 81 
 
 permit the use of nets and seines for taking 
 herring and alewives; and nothing in this act 
 shall be construed to prohibit the spearing of that 
 species of fish commonly known as "suckers." 
 
 AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1903, CHAP. 246. 
 
 For the better protection of fish. 
 
 Section 133. Whoever puts or throws into 
 any waters for the purpose of taking or destroying 
 fish therein any poisonous substance, simple, 
 mixed or compound, or whoever kills or destroys 
 fish by the use of dynamite or other explosive, or 
 explodes dynamite or powder in fishing waters, 
 shall forfeit ten dollars for each offence: pro- 
 vided, however, that the provisions of this act 
 shall not apply to operations of the federal gov- 
 ernment, of the state government, or of any 
 municipal government in this commonwealth, 
 nor to the use of explosives for raising the body of 
 a drowned person. 
 
 Shellfish constables. 
 
 Section 134. The mayor and aldermen of a 
 city or the selectmen of a town may designate 
 one or more constables for the detection and 
 prosecution of any violation of the laws of the 
 commonwealth relative to shell fisheries. Such 
 constables may arrest without warrant any per- 
 son found violating such laws, and detain him for 
 prosecution not more than twenty-four hours; 
 and may seize any boat or vessel used in such 
 violation, and her tackle, apparel and furniture 
 and implements which shall be forfeited. 
 
 Time of prosecutions. 
 
 Section 135. Actions and prosecutions under 
 the laws relative to fisheries shall, unless other- 
 wise expressly provided, be commenced within 
 one year after the time when the cause of action 
 accrued or the offence was committed. 
 
82 FISH LAWS. 
 
 Duties of municipal officers, etc. 
 
 Section 136. The mayor and aldermen of 
 cities, the selectmen of towns, police officers and 
 constables shall cause the provisions of sections 
 sixty-three, seventy-one and seventy-two to be 
 enforced in their respective cities and towns. 
 
 Acts of 1908, Chap. 330. 
 
 Disposition of fines recovered in prosecutions und9r 
 the laws relating to fisheries, birds, animals and 
 game. 
 
 Section 1. All fines, penalties and forfeitures 
 recovered in prosecutions under the laws relative 
 to fisheries or to birds, animals and game, except 
 as provided in section eighty-eight of chapter 
 ninety-one of the Revised Laws, as amended by 
 section one of chapter three hundred and three 
 of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
 seven, shall be equally divided between the 
 county in which such prosecution is made and 
 the commonwealth: provided, however, that if 
 the plaintiff is a deputy appointed by the com- 
 missioners on fisheries and game and is receiving 
 compensation from the commonwealth, such 
 fines, penalties and forfeitures shall be paid into 
 the treasury of the commonwealth. 
 
 Section 2. Section one hundeed and thirty- 
 seven of chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws 
 and section twenty of chapter ninety-two of the 
 Revised Laws, as amended by chapter four 
 hundred and forty-five of the acts of the year 
 nineteen hundred and five and by chapter three 
 hundred of the acts of the year nineteen hundred 
 and seven, are hereby repealed. 
 
 Special statutes not repealed. 
 
 Section 138. The provisions of this chapter 
 shall not repeal or affect any provisions or penal- 
 ties contained or any privileges granted in any 
 special statutes relating to fisheries in particular 
 places. 
 
FISH LAWS. 83 
 
 Acts of 1908, Chap. 76. 
 Bounty on seals abolished. 
 
 Section 1. Section one hundred and thirty- 
 nine of chapter ninety-one of the Revised Laws, 
 establishing a bounty for killing seals, is hereby 
 repealed. 
 
 Kelp and seaweed. 
 
 Section 140. Any person may take and 
 carry away kelp or other seaweed between high 
 and low water mark while it is actually adrift in 
 tide waters ; but for such purpose no person shall 
 enter on upland or on lawfully enclosed flats 
 without the consent of the owner or lawful occu- 
 pant thereof. The provisions of this section 
 shall not apply to any city or town in which the 
 subject matter thereof is regulated by special laws. 
 
84 GAME LAWS. 
 
 GAME LAWS. 
 
 Revised Laws, Chap. 92. 
 
 PRESERVATION OF CERTAIN BIRDS AND 
 ANIMALS. 
 
 Acts of 1905, Chap. 317, as amended by Acts of 1908, Chap. 
 402; as further amended by Acts of 1910, Chap. 614. 1 
 
 Unnaturalized, foreign born persons must procure 
 license to hunt. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any un- 
 naturalized, foreign born person to hunt, pursue, 
 trap or kill any wild bird or quadruped anywhere 
 within the limits of the commonwealth, unless 
 he is licensed so to do as hereinafter provided. 
 
 Section 2. City and town clerks shall, upon 
 the application of any unnaturalized, foreign 
 born person who is a resident of the city or town 
 in which the application is made, and upon the 
 payment of a fee of fifteen dollars, issue to such 
 person a license, upon the form to be supplied by 
 the commissioners on fisheries and game, bearing 
 the name, age and place of residence of the li- 
 censee, with a description of him, as near as may 
 be, and authorizing the said licensee to hunt and 
 to kill game on any lands in which such hunting 
 or killing is not forbidden by law or by written 
 or printed notices posted thereon by the owner, 
 lessee or occupant thereof. Such license shall 
 be good only for that period of the year when 
 game may lawfully be killed, and shall authorize 
 the hunting or killing of game only under such 
 restrictions and for such purposes as are imposed 
 or authorized by law. The said license shall not 
 br transferable, shall expire on the thirty-first 
 day of December of the year of issue, and shall be 
 exhibited upon demand to any of the commis- 
 sioners on fisheries and game or their deputies, 
 
 1 For laws relative to licensing and registration of hunters, 
 disposition of license fees, etc., in effect after Jan. 1, 1912, 
 see p. 90, Acts of 1911, Chapter 614. 
 
GAME LAWS. 85 
 
 and to any game warden or deputy game warden, 
 and to any sheriff, constable, police officer or 
 other officer qualified to serve process. The fees 
 received for the said licenses shall, on the first 
 Monday of every month, be paid to the board of 
 commissioners on fisheries and game. The board 
 of commissioners on fisheries and game shall, on 
 the second Monday of every month, pay to the 
 treasurer and receiver general all money received 
 by them for such certificates issued during the 
 previous month. 
 
 Section 3. A license granted hereunder shall 
 be revoked by the city or town clerk issuing the 
 same in case the licensee is convicted of a viola- 
 tion of fish and game laws, or of hunting upon 
 Sunday in violation of law. 
 
 Section 4. It shall be the duty of the com- 
 missioners on fisheries and game, upon request 
 by any city or town clerk, to supply such clerk 
 with license forms prepared in accordance with 
 the provisions of this act. 
 
 Section 5. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
 than ten nor more than fifty dollars. 
 
 Acts of 1907, Chap. 198, as amended by Acts of 1909, Chap. 
 262.i 
 
 Non-resident hunters must procure licenses to hunt. 
 Section 1. If any person, not a bona fide 
 resident of this commonwealth and actually 
 domiciled therein for a period of six months, 
 shall hunt, pursue or kill, within the limits of this 
 commonwealth, any wild animal, wild fowl or 
 bird without having first procured of the com- 
 missioners on fisheries and game a license to so 
 hunt, pursue, or kill as hereinafter provided, he 
 shall be fined, for each offence, a sum not ex- 
 ceeding fifty dollars, or be imprisoned for a term 
 not exceeding thirty days, or shall suffer both 
 such fine and imprisonment; and the same pen- 
 
 1 See note on p. 84. 
 
86 GAME LAWS. 
 
 alties shall be imposed upon any such person who 
 shall be convicted of so hunting, pursuing or 
 killing such wild animal, wild fowl or bird on a 
 license which has been issued in the name of 
 another person. 
 
 Section 2. [Repealed by Acts of 1909, Chap- 
 ter 262.] 
 
 Section 3. The commissioners on fisheries 
 and game may, upon application therefor, issue 
 a license to a non-resident which shall entitle 
 such person to the privileges enjoyed by residents 
 of this commonwealth as to the hunting and 
 killing of all wild animals, wild fowl or birds. 
 Such license shall be recorded in detail in books 
 kept for that purpose, shall not be transferable 
 nor available to any person other than the one 
 named therein, shall be valid and in force only 
 during the calendar year in which it is issued and 
 dated, and shall entitle the licensee to hunt and 
 kill only during the respective periods of the 3 r ear 
 when it is lawful for residents to so hunt and kill. 
 Such license shall state the name, age, color of 
 hair and eyes, and residence of the applicant. 
 
 Section 4. No license shall be valid unless 
 the signature of the person to whom it is issued 
 is written thereon, and every such person shall at 
 all times when hunting carry his license on his 
 person, and shall at all reasonable times and as 
 often as requested produce and show such license 
 to any person requesting him so to do, and if he 
 fails or refuses so to do he shall forfeit the license 
 and be deemed to be hunting in violation of the 
 provisions of this act. 
 
 Section 5. Each non-resident hunting license 
 shall entitle the licensee to carry from the com- 
 monwealth not more than six wild fowl or birds 
 of all kinds, the exportation of which is pro- 
 hibited by law, in any one calendar year: pro- 
 vided, that the owner thereof shall carry them 
 open to view for inspection, shall present his 
 license for inspection upon demand, and shall 
 
GAME LAWS. 87 
 
 have informed, by letter or otherwise, the com- 
 missioner who issued the license as to the num- 
 ber and kinds of wild fowl or birds which he 
 intends to carry from the commonwealth. Who- 
 ever violates any provision of this section shall be 
 fined not more than fifty dollars, or be imprisoned 
 for not more than thirty days, or shall suffer both 
 such fine and imprisonment. 
 
 Section 6. The commissioners on fisheries 
 and game, and the detectives in their employ, 
 shall have the right, after demand and refusal 
 or failure to exhibit any such license, to arrest 
 without warrant any non-resident person or per- 
 sons found hunting, pursuing or killing any wild 
 animal, wild fowl or bird, and for the purpose of 
 this arrest any person who shall refuse to state 
 his name and place of residence on demand of 
 such officer shall be deemed a non-resident. 
 
 Section 7. The fee for the license aforesaid 
 shall be ten dollars except as hereinafter provided, 
 and the money received for the said licenses by 
 the commissioners shall be paid into the treasury 
 of the commonwealth. The fee for the said li- 
 cense shall be one dollar for the following classes 
 of persons : — (1) A resident of another state who 
 owns real estate situated in this commonwealth, 
 which is assessed for taxation at not less than five 
 hundred dollars. (2) A non-resident member of 
 any association, incorporated prior to the year 
 nineteen hundred and seven, for the purpose of 
 hunting or fishing, provided that such corpora- 
 tion owns real estate in this commonwealth, 
 which is assessed for taxation at not less than one 
 thousand dollars. (3) A non-resident who, on 
 the written invitation of a member of any club 
 incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts, 
 attends a meeting of such club for the purpose of 
 hunting foxes only, during a period not exceed- 
 ing four days, provided that the membership 
 list of the club shall be filed with the commis- 
 sioners on fisheries and game. 
 
88 GAME LAWS. 
 
 Acts of 1908, Chap. 484, as amended by Acts of 1909, Chap. 
 325; as further amended by acts of 1910, chap. 614, 
 and Acts of 1911, Chap. 235. 1 
 
 The registration of hunters. 
 
 Section 1. No citizen of the United States 
 resident in Massachusetts shall hunt, pursue, 
 take, or kill any bird or quadruped protected by 
 law or use a gun for hunting, except as herein pro- 
 vided, without first having obtained a certificate 
 of registration as hereinafter provided: provided, 
 however, that nothing in this act shall be con- 
 strued as affecting in any way the provisions 
 of the general laws relating to trespass, or as 
 authorizing the hunting, pursuing, taking, 
 wounding, or killing, or the possession of birds 
 or quadrupeds contrary to any laws now or 
 hereinafter in force, nor shall the possession of 
 such certificate of registration grant or confer 
 any privilege not enjoyed prior to the passage 
 of this act. 
 
 Section 2. The clerk of any city or town 
 shall, upon the application of any such bona fide 
 resident citizen who shall prove to the satisfac- 
 tion of the clerk issuing said license that he is a 
 citizen of this state and the payment of the regis- 
 tration fee and recording fee hereinafter pro- 
 vided, issue to such person a certificate in the 
 form prescribed and upon blanks furnished by 
 the commissioners on fisheries and game: pro- 
 vided, however, that an application for a license 
 for a minor under sixteen years of age must be 
 accompanied by a written request from his 
 parent or guardian, which certificate shall bear 
 the name, age, occupation, place of residence, 
 signature and an identifying description of the 
 person thus registered, and shall authorize the 
 person so registered to hunt game birds and game 
 quadrupeds during the period when the same, 
 respectively, may lawfully be killed, and at no 
 other time, and only subject to the restrictions 
 
 x See note on p. 84. 
 
GAME LAWS. 89 
 
 and conditions as provided by law. Said certifi- 
 cates shall be valid until January first next fol- 
 lowing the date of issue and no longer, shall not 
 be transferable, and shall be carried on the per- 
 son when hunting and produced for examination 
 upon demand of any commissioner of fisheries 
 and game, or their deputies or upon demand of 
 any sheriff, constable, police officer, or other of- 
 ficer authorized to arrest for crime, or of the 
 owner or lessee in actual occupancy of any land 
 upon which such registered person may be found. 
 Failure or refusal to produce said certificate upon 
 such demand shall be prima facie evidence of a 
 violation of this act. 
 
 Section 3. Every citizen of the United States 
 who is a bona fide resident of this state shall pay 
 for such certificate a fee of one dollar, of which 
 sum fifteen cents shall be returned by the state 
 treasurer to the clerk of the city or town in which 
 the certificate is recorded, if the annual salary of 
 such clerk does not exceed five hundred dollars, 
 but if his salary exceeds five hundred dollars no 
 part of said fee shall be returned to him ; and the 
 board of commissioners on fisheries and game 
 shall annually, in the month of April, prepare 
 and furnish to the treasurer and receiver general 
 a list of all city and town clerks who are entitled 
 to receive a return fee of fifteen cents for each 
 license issued, as provided in this section: pro- 
 vided, however, that this act shall not apply to 
 any such citizen who is a bona fide resident on 
 land owned or leased by him and on which he is 
 actually domiciled, which land is used exclusively 
 for agricultural purposes, and not for club or 
 shooting purposes. 
 
 Section 4. Every city and town clerk shall 
 keep a record of all such certificates issued by 
 him, which record shall be open to inspection by 
 all officers authorized to make arrests, and by the 
 state treasurer and the state auditor or their 
 agents, and by the commissioners on fisheries 
 
90 GAME LAWS. 
 
 and game and their deputies; and such clerk 
 shall, on the first Monday of every month, pay 
 to the board of commissioners on fisheries and 
 game all money received by him for such certifi- 
 cates issued during the month preceding. The 
 board of commissioners on fisheries and game 
 shall, on the second Monday of every month, pay 
 to the treasurer and receiver general all money 
 received by them for such certificates issued 
 during the previous month and furnish to him a 
 list of the number and kind of certificates so 
 issued by each city and town clerk during the 
 previous month. 
 
 Section 5. Any person who shall violate any 
 provision of this act shall be fined not less than 
 ten nor more than fifty dollars, or be imprisoned 
 for not more than thirty days, or shall be pun- 
 ished by both such fine and imprisonment; and 
 the certificate of any person who shall be con- 
 victed of a violation of any law relating to birds 
 or quadrupeds, or of any provision of this act, 
 shall be void and the said certificate shall be sur- 
 rendered by him to the court, and such person 
 shall not receive a certificate during the period 
 of one year from the date of such conviction. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 614. 
 
 Licensing and registration of hunters and disposi- 
 tion of the license fees. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
 son to hunt, pursue, take or kill any bird or 
 quadruped without first having obtained a cer- 
 tificate of registration as hereinafter provided: 
 provided, however, that nothing in this act shall 
 be construed as affecting in any way the pro- 
 visions of the general laws relating to trespass, 
 or as authorizing the hunting, pursuing, taking, 
 wounding or killing, or the possession of birds or 
 quadrupeds contrary to any laws now or here- 
 after in force, nor shall the possession of the 
 said certificate of registration grant or confer 
 
GAME LAWS. 91 
 
 any privilege not enjoyed prior to the passage of 
 this act. But this act shall not prohibit any 
 person who is a legal resident of Massachusetts 
 from hunting on land owned or leased by him, 
 provided that he is actually domiciled on such 
 land, and that the land is used exclusively for 
 agricultural purposes, and not for club or shoot- 
 ing purposes. 
 
 Section 2. The clerk of any city or town 
 shall, upon the application of any person entitled 
 to receive a certificate of registration under any 
 of the classes hereinafter described, and upon 
 payment of the registration fee hereinafter speci- 
 fied, and the furnishing of an affidavit by any 
 non-resident who desires to be classified under 
 clauses one, two and three of section four of this 
 act, register and issue to such person a certificate 
 in the form prescribed and upon a blank fur- 
 nished by the commissioners on fisheries and 
 game, which certificate shall bear the name, age, 
 occupation, place of residence, and signature and 
 identifying description of the person thus regis- 
 tered, and shall authorize the person so regis- 
 tered to hunt birds and quadrupeds, subject to 
 such conditions as are provided by law. Said 
 certificate shall be valid onty to January first 
 next following the date of issue and no longer, 
 shall not be transferable, and shall be produced 
 for examination upon demand of any person. 
 Failure or refusal to produce said certificate upon 
 such demand shall be prima facie evidence of 
 the violation of this act. 
 
 Section 3. Every unnaturalized, foreign- 
 born person shall pay for such registration a fee 
 of fifteen dollars to the clerk of the city or town 
 in which he resides and from whom he procures 
 his certificate. 
 
 Section 4. Every citizen of the United 
 States, not a legal resident of this commonwealth, 
 and not having been actually domiciled therein 
 for a period of six months, shall pay for said 
 
92 GAME LAWS. 
 
 registration a fee of ten dollars to the clerk of 
 the city or town from whom he procures his cer- 
 tificate, except such persons as come within one 
 of the three following classes, in which case the 
 applicant shall pay for his registration the sum 
 of one dollar to the clerk of the city or town from 
 whom he procures his certificate. 
 
 (1) The resident of another state who owns 
 real estate situated in this commonwealth which 
 is assessed for taxation at not less than five hun- 
 dred dollars. 
 
 (2) A non-resident member of any association 
 incorporated prior to the year nineteen hundred 
 and seven for the purpose of hunting: provided, 
 that such corporation owns real estate in this 
 commonwealth which is assessed for taxation at 
 not less than one thousand dollars. 
 
 (3) A non-resident who, on the written invita- 
 tion of a member of any club incorporated under 
 the laws of Massachusetts, attends the meeting 
 of such club for the purpose of hunting foxes 
 only, during a period not exceeding four days: 
 provided, that the membership list of the club 
 shall be filed with the clerk of the town in which 
 the hunt takes place. 
 
 Section 5. Every citizen of the United 
 States who is a legal resident of this common- 
 wealth shall pay for such registration the fee of 
 one dollar to the clerk of the city or town for 
 whom he procures his certificate. 
 
 Section 6. Out of the fee paid in any and all 
 of the foregoing classes the sum of fifteen cents 
 shall be retained by the clerk of the city or town 
 in which the registration is recorded, if the annual 
 salary of such clerk does not exceed five hundred 
 dollars; but if his salary exceeds five hundred 
 dollars, no part of said fee shall be retained by 
 him. 
 
 Section 7. Minors under sixteen years of 
 age, upon making application for registration, 
 shall furnish the consent of their parents or 
 
GAME LAWS. 93 
 
 guardian in writing, and such written consent 
 shall be filed with the records of such applica- 
 tion. 
 
 Section 8. Whoever loses, or by mistake 
 or accident destroys his certificate of registra- 
 tion may, upon application to the commission 
 on fisheries and game accompanied by an affi- 
 davit fully setting forth the circumstances of the 
 loss, receive without charge a duplicate certifi- 
 cate for the remainder of the year covered by 
 the original certificate. 
 
 Section 9. Every city and town clerk shall 
 report all such registration in books kept for 
 that purpose, which books shall be open to pub- 
 lic inspection during the usual office hours of 
 such clerk, and subject to audit and inspection 
 by the commissioners on fisheries and game, by 
 the state auditor, or by their agents, at all times ; 
 and said clerk shall, on the first Monday of 
 every month, pay to the board of commissioners 
 on fisheries and game all money received by him 
 for the said registrations, except the recording 
 fees which he is entitled to retain, as provided 
 in section six, together with a receipted bill for 
 fees due and received in accordance with section 
 six of this act, issued during the month preceding. 
 All remittances shall be made by certified check, 
 United States post office money order, express 
 money order or lawful money of the United 
 States. The board of commissioners on fisheries 
 and game shall, in accordance with the pro- 
 visions of section fifty-six of chapter six of the 
 Revised Laws, pay to the treasurer and receiver 
 general all money received by them for the said 
 registrations issued during the previous month, 
 and shall furnish him with a list of the number 
 and kind of registrations recorded by each city 
 and town clerk during the previous month. 
 
 Section 10. A non-resident hunting license 
 shall entitle the licensee to carry from the com- 
 monwealth and into any other state according 
 
94 GAME LAWS. 
 
 similar privileges not more than ten wild fowl, 
 or game birds of all kinds, the exportation of 
 which is prohibited by law, in any one calendar 
 year: provided, that the licensee shall carry them 
 open to view for inspection, shall present his 
 certificate for inspection upon demand, and shall 
 have informed by letter or otherwise the com- 
 missioners on fisheries and game or the deputy 
 in whose district the said non-resident is hunting, 
 as to the number and kinds of wild fowl or game 
 birds which he intends to carry from the com- 
 monwealth. 
 
 Section 11. Any person who makes a false 
 representation as to birthplace, requirements for 
 identification, or of facts relative to property 
 qualifications, or naturalization, or otherwise 
 violates any provision of this act shall be fined 
 not less than ten or more than fifty dollars, or 
 be imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or 
 may be punished by both such fine and imprison- 
 ment. Every person convicted of violating the 
 game laws shall immediately surrender to the 
 officer who secures such conviction his certificate 
 of registration; and the officer shall forthwith 
 forward said certificate to the commissioners on 
 fisheries and game, who shall cancel the same 
 and notify the clerk issuing the certificate of 
 registration of the cancellation. No other cer- 
 tificate of registration shall be issued to such 
 person so convicted during a period of one year 
 after the date of conviction. 
 
 Section 12. The fees and fines received 
 under the provisions of this act shall be paid 
 into the treasury of the commonwealth. 
 
 Section 13. Chapter three hundred and 
 seventeen of the acts of the year nineteen hun- 
 dred and five, as amended by chapter four hun- 
 dred and two of the acts of the year nineteen 
 hundred and eight, and by chapter two hundred 
 and sixty-two of the acts of the year nineteen hun- 
 dred and nine, and by chapter six hundred and 
 
GAME LAWS. 95 
 
 fourteen of the acts of the year nineteen hundred 
 and ten; chapter one hundred and ninety-eight 
 of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
 seven, as amended by chapter two hundred .and 
 sixty-two of the acts of the year nineteen hundred 
 and nine; chapter four hundred and eighty-four 
 of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
 eight, as amended by chapter three hundred and 
 twenty-five of the acts of the year nineteen hun- 
 dred and nine, and by chapter six hundred and 
 fourteen of the acts of the year nineteen hundred 
 and ten ; and all acts and parts of acts inconsist- 
 ent herewith are hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 14. This act shall take effect Jan- 
 uary first, nineteen hundred and twelve. 
 
 As AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1904, CHAP. 176. 
 
 Lord's day, close season. 
 
 Section 1. The Lord's day shall be close sea- 
 son. Whoever hunts or destroys birds, wild 
 animals or game of any kind on the Lord's day 
 shall be liable to a penalty of not less than ten 
 nor more than twenty dollars in addition to any 
 penalties for taking, killing or having in posses- 
 sion birds, wild animals or game protected by law. 
 
 Acts of 1909, Chap. 422. 
 
 Governor may proclaim a close season for game in 
 times of drouth. 
 
 Section 1. Whenever, during an open sea- 
 son for the hunting of any kind of game in this 
 state, it shall appear to the governor that by 
 reason of extreme drouth the use of firearms in 
 the forest is liable to cause forest fires, he may, 
 by proclamation, suspend the open season and 
 make it a close season for the shooting of birds 
 and wild animals of every kind for such time as 
 he may designate, and may prohibit the dis- 
 charge of firearms in or near forest land during 
 the said time. 
 
96 GAME LAWS. 
 
 Section 2. During the time designated as 
 above by the governor, all provisions of law re- 
 lating to the close season shall be in force, and 
 whoever violates any such provision shall be sub- 
 ject to the penalties prescribed therefor. In 
 case any person shall, during a close season pro- 
 claimed as aforesaid, discharge a firearm in or 
 near forest land, or shoot any wild animal or 
 bird, as to which there is no close season other- 
 wise provided by law, he shall be subject to a 
 fine of not more than one hundred dollars. 
 
 Section 3. A proclamation issued under au- 
 thority hereof shall be published in such news- 
 papers of the state and posted in such places and 
 in such manner as the governor may direct, under 
 the charge and direction of the state forester and 
 the commissioners on fisheries and game. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 236. 
 Ruffed grouse and woodcock. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful, excepting 
 only between the fifteenth day of October and 
 the fifteenth day of November of each year, 
 both dates inclusive, to hunt, pursue, take or 
 kill a ruffed grouse, commonly called partridge, 
 or a woodcock, or to have the same, or any part 
 thereof, in possession, whenever or wherever the 
 same may have been taken or killed; and it 
 shall be unlawful at any time to buy, sell, offer 
 for sale, or otherwise dispose of a ruffed grouse 
 or woodcock or any part thereof, whenever or 
 wherever the same may have been taken or 
 killed; and it shall be unlawful at any time to 
 take or send or cause to be taken or transported 
 beyond the limits of the commonwealth the 
 above named birds, or to have in possession any 
 such bird with intent to take or cause the same 
 to be taken out of the commonwealth. I 
 
 Section 2. So much of chapter ninety-two 
 of the Revised Laws as is inconsistent herewith, 
 and chapter four hundred and forty-one of the 
 
GAME LAWS. 97 
 
 acts of the year nineteen hundred and eight, 
 chapter two hundred and seventy-two of the 
 acts of the year nineteen hundred and nine, and 
 chapter three hundred and sixty-five of the acts 
 of the year nineteen hundred and ten, are 
 hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 3. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of twenty 
 dollars for each bird or part thereof in respect to 
 which the violation occurs; and possession of a 
 ruffed grouse or woodcock, except during the 
 open season, as provided above, shall be prima 
 facie evidence that the person having possession 
 has violated the provisions of this act. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 356. 
 Quail. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful excepting 
 only between the fifteenth day of October and 
 the fifteenth day of November of each year, 
 both dates inclusive, to hunt, pursue, take or 
 kill a quail or to have the same, or any part 
 thereof, in possession except as provided in sec- 
 tions two and three hereof; and it shall be unlaw- 
 ful at any time to take or send or cause to be 
 taken or transported beyond the limits of the 
 commonwealth a quail which was taken or 
 killed within the commonwealth, or to have in 
 possession quail with intent to take or cause the 
 same to be taken out of the commonwealth, ex- 
 cept quail artificially propagated as provided in 
 section two hereof. 
 
 Section 2. Upon application to the board of 
 commissioners on fisheries and game, written 
 permission may be granted to any person to en- 
 gage in the rearing of quail and to dispose of the 
 same under such rules and regulations, approved 
 by the governor and council, as may be made 
 from time to time by the commissioners, and 
 such artificially propagated quail may be bought, 
 sold and had in possession at any season of the 
 year for the purposes of propagation. 
 
98 GAME LAWS. 
 
 Section 3. It shall be unlawful to buy, sell, 
 offer for sale or otherwise dispose of at any time 
 a quail, or any part thereof, whenever or where- 
 ever such bird may have been taken or killed: 
 'provided, however, that a person, firm or corpora- 
 tion dealing in game, or engaged in the cold 
 storage business, may buy, sell or have in posses- 
 sion, and a person may buy from such person, 
 firm or corporation, and may have in possession 
 if so bought, quail from the first day of November 
 to the first day of January following, if such 
 quail or parts thereof were not taken in this 
 commonwealth, and were not taken, killed, 
 bought, sold or otherwise disposed of or trans- 
 ported contrary to the laws of any state or 
 country. And a person, firm or corporation 
 dealing in game or engaged in the cold storage 
 business may have quail in possession in cold 
 storage for storage purposes, at any season, if 
 such quail were not taken or killed in this com- 
 monwealth, and were not taken, killed, bought, 
 sold or otherwise procured or disposed of, or 
 transported contrary to the laws of the state or 
 country in which the quail were taken, killed, 
 or transported; provided, however, that such 
 persons, firms or corporations shall have notified 
 in writing the commissioners on fisheries and 
 game on or before January first in each year, of 
 the species, number of each species, and place of 
 storage of such birds, and that such birds are in 
 places and packages convenient for sealing, and 
 that the packages are plainly marked with the 
 name and number of the birds therein. The com- 
 missioners or their deputies shall then place a 
 seal upon all receptacles and packages containing 
 any species of quail. The said seal shall not be 
 removed by any person other than the commis- 
 sioners on fisheries and game or their deputies, 
 and shall be removed by the said commissioners 
 or their deputies upon the first day of Novem- 
 ber of each year. The packages so sealed shall 
 
GAME LAWS. 99 
 
 not be opened or removed from that storage 
 warehouse under a penalty of twenty dollars for 
 each bird. But any person, firm or corporation 
 holding a permit from the commissioners on 
 fisheries and game may buy, sell or have in pos- 
 session live quail for purposes of propagation 
 within the commonwealth, and for no other 
 purpose. 
 
 Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of twenty 
 dollars for each bird or part thereof, in respect to 
 which the violation occurs. The possession, ex- 
 cept as provided above, of quail during the sea- 
 son when taking, killing, or sale is prohibited by 
 law shall be prima facie evidence that the person 
 having possession has violated some provision of 
 this act. 
 
 Section 5. So much of chapter ninety-two 
 of the Revised Laws as is inconsistent herewith 
 and chapter four hundred and forty-one of the 
 acts of the year nineteen hundred and eight, and 
 chapter two hundred and seventy-two of the 
 acts of the year nineteen hundred and nine, and 
 chapter three hundred and sixty-five of the acts 
 of the year nineteen hundred and ten, are 
 hereby repealed. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 19. 
 Gray, European, or Hungarian partridge. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to hunt, pur- 
 sue, take or kill, sell or offer for sale, or to have 
 in possession, the bird known as Perdix cinerea, 
 commonly called Hungarian partridge, gray or 
 European partridge, except as hereinafter pro- 
 vided. 
 
 Section 2. Upon application to the commis- 
 sioners on fisheries and game written permission 
 may be granted to any person to engage in rear- 
 ing of this bird, and to dispose of the same, 
 under such rules and regulations, approved by 
 
100 GAME LAWS. 
 
 the governor and council, as may be made from 
 time to time by the commissioners. Such arti- 
 ficially propagated birds, Hungarian partridge, 
 gray or European partridge, may be sold or had 
 in possession at any season of the year for pur- 
 poses of propagation. 
 
 Section 3. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act, or any rule or regulation made as 
 aforesaid, shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
 ing fifty dollars for each bird or part thereof in 
 respect to which the violation occurs. 
 
 Acts of 1907, Chap. 118. 
 Protection of loons and eagles. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to hunt, cap- 
 ture, wound or kill a loon in or upon fresh water, 
 or an eagle in any place. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of twenty 
 dollars. 
 
 Acts of 1906, Chap. 141, as amended by Acts of 1911, 
 Chap. 18. 
 
 To prevent the extermination of the heath hen, so 
 called. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to hunt, 
 take or kill that species of pinnated grouse com- 
 monly called heath hen, and scientifically known 
 as Tym-panuchus cupido, or to buy, sell, other- 
 wise dispose of, or have in possession the same or 
 any part thereof, previous to the first day of 
 November in the year nineteen hundred and six- 
 teen. 
 
 Section 2. So much of section four of chap- 
 ter ninety-two of the Revised Laws as is incon- 
 sistent herewith is hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 3. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of one hun- 
 dred dollars for each bird or part thereof in re- 
 spect to which the violation occurs. 
 
GAME LAWS. 101 
 
 Acts of 1907, Chap. 504. 
 
 Authorizes the taking 1 of certain unimproved land 
 upon the island of Martha's Vineyard for the pro- 
 tection of pinnated grouse and other birds. 
 
 Section 1. The commissioners on fisheries 
 and game are hereby authorized to take, or re- 
 ceive as a gift, or lease, for and in the name of the 
 commonwealth such unimproved lands on the 
 island of Martha's Vineyard, not exceeding one 
 thousand acres, and such other property as they 
 may deem necessary for the purpose of making 
 fire stops for the protection from fire of the feed- 
 ing and breeding grounds of the pinnated grouse, 
 or of otherwise securing the maintenance and 
 increase of the said birds, or of any other species 
 of wild birds upon said island; and the control 
 and the use of the lands or other property so ac- 
 quired or leased, or of any land or property 
 otherwise placed under the temporary or per- 
 manent control of said commissioners for the 
 said purposes shall be vested in said commis- 
 sioners, and the provisions of chapter three hun- 
 dred and twenty-seven of the acts of the year 
 nineteen hundred and six shall apply thereto. 
 
 Section 2. Said commissioners shall, within 
 thirty days after taking any land under this act, 
 file and cause to be recorded in the office of the 
 register of deeds for the county of Dukes County 
 at Edgartown, a certificate describing by metes 
 and bounds the land so taken, stating the names 
 of the owners, so far as they may be known, and 
 also stating the purpose of such taking as here- 
 inbefore specified. Said plan and certificate 
 shall be signed by said commissioners, or by a 
 majority of them. 
 
 Section 3. Any person sustaining damages 
 by the taking of land as herein provided, who 
 fails to agree with said commissioners as to the 
 amount thereof, may, on application at any time 
 within one year after the taking of such land, 
 have the same assessed and determined in the 
 
102 GAME LAWS. 
 
 manner provided by law in the case of land 
 taken for the laying out of highways. 
 
 Section 4. In any proceeding for the re- 
 covery of damages hereunder, said commissioners 
 may offer in court and may consent in writing 
 that the sum therein specified may be awarded 
 to the complainant as damages, and if the com- 
 plainant shall not accept the same within ten 
 days after he has received notice of such offer 
 and shall not finally recover a greater sum than 
 that offered, not including interest on the sum 
 recovered in damages from the date of the offer, 
 said commissioners shall be entitled to recover 
 costs after such date, and the complainant, if he 
 recover damages, shall be allowed costs only to 
 the date of the offer unless the damages so re- 
 covered shall be in excess of the amount offered 
 as aforesaid by said commissioners. 
 
 Section 5. For the purpose of acquiring said 
 lands as aforesaid, and for the preparation of 
 said fire stops and for other work, incidental to 
 the purposes hereinbefore set forth, and for in- 
 vestigating and reporting upon the best methods 
 and probable cost of protecting and increasing 
 the colonies of birds on the island, the sum of two 
 thousand dollars may be expended; and said 
 commissioners may also expend in accordance 
 with the provisions of this act such other sums 
 as towns, associations or individuals may from 
 time to time pay to the treasurer of the common- 
 wealth for the said purposes. 
 
 Acts of 1906, Chap. 304. 
 Prohibits the sale of prairie chickens. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to buy, sell, 
 or otherwise dispose of, or to have in possession, a 
 prairie chicken, scientifically known as Tym- 
 panuchus Americanus, and as Pedioecetes phasian- 
 ellus, or any part thereof, whenever or wherever 
 taken. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of twenty 
 
GAME LAWS. 103 
 
 dollars for each bird or part thereof, in respect 
 to which the violation occurs, and possession 
 shall be prima facie evidence that the person 
 having possession has violated the provisions of 
 this act. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 343. 
 Protection and importation of wild turkeys. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful prior to the 
 first day of September in the year nineteen hun- 
 dred and fifteen to hunt, take or kill a wild tur- 
 key scientifically known as meleagris gallopavo. 
 
 Section 2. It shall be unlawful to import 
 into or to liberate within this commonwealth 
 any wild turkey which is infected with the disease 
 termed coccidiosis, or enter •ohepatitis, commonly 
 known as "black head", or to import any living 
 wild turkey except under a special written permit 
 from the board of commissioners on fisheries and 
 game. 
 
 Section 3. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of twenty 
 dollars. 
 
 Acts of 1900, Chap. 274, as amended by Acts of 1911, 
 Chap. 39. 
 
 Relative to the protection of wood or summer duck. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful, prior to the 
 first day of September in the year nineteen hun- 
 dred and sixteen, to hunt, capture, wound or kill 
 a wood or summer duck. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of not more 
 than fifty dollars for each violation. The posses- 
 sion of any wood duck or summer duck, or any 
 part thereof, shall be prima facie evidence of a 
 violation of the provisions of this act. 
 
 Acts of 1909, Chap. 362. 
 State reservations are refugre3 for birds and game. 
 
 Section 1. No person shall hunt, pursue, 
 take, kill or in any manner molest or destroy any 
 
104 GAME LAWS. 
 
 wild bird or game within the exterior boundaries 
 of any state reservation, park, common or any 
 land held in trust for public use, except that the 
 authorities or persons having the control and 
 charge of such reservations, parks, commons or 
 other lands may in their discretion, and with 
 such limitations as they may deem advisable, 
 authorize persons to hunt, take or kill within 
 said boundaries any wild birds or animals which 
 are not now protected by law. Such authoriza- 
 tions shall be by written license, and the license 
 shall be revocable at the pleasure of the authori- 
 ties or persons granting it. 
 
 Section 2. The boards, officials and persons 
 having charge of reservations, parks, commons 
 and lands held for public use shall enforce the 
 provisions of this act. 
 
 Section 3. Every violation of any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
 ing twenty-five dollars. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 410. 
 
 Establishment of state bird and game preserves and 
 the protection and propagation of wild birds and 
 quadrupeds. 
 
 Section 1 . For the purpose of protecting any 
 species of useful wild birds or quadrupeds and for 
 aiding the propagation thereof the board of com- 
 missioners on fisheries and game may acquire in 
 fee by purchase, gift or devise, or may lease, or, 
 with the consent of the owners, may control any 
 land, water or shore or the right to use the same, 
 including the right of the public in such land or 
 on such water or shore, as a bird and game pre- 
 serve. 
 
 Section 2. For the purposes aforesaid the 
 said commissioners, upon a petition filed with 
 them by the mayor and aldermen of a city or the 
 selectmen of a town, or by one or more owners 
 of land, water or shore, if satisfied of the suitable 
 character and situation of the same, may, with 
 the consent of the owners, order a close season 
 
GAME LAWS. 105 
 
 for one or more periods, not exceeding five years 
 each, on all wild birds and quadrupeds within 
 the area or any part thereof specified in the peti- 
 tion. But before making any order under such 
 petition, the commissioners shall give a public 
 hearing upon the matter at some place in or near 
 the territory under consideration, of which meet- 
 ing and of their intention in the matter notice 
 shall be given by publication once a week for 
 two successive weeks in one or more newspapers 
 published in the county or counties embracing 
 the territory, the last publication to be at least 
 seven days prior to the time fixed for the hear- 
 ing. 
 
 Section 3. In respect to any territory ac- 
 quired or controlled as above provided or any 
 territory upon which a close season has been 
 ordered as above provided, the said commis- 
 sioners may make such use of the land, water or 
 shore within the territory as they ma}' deem best 
 for the purpose of improving the feeding and 
 nesting environment of birds or game, and may 
 from time to time make such rules and regula- 
 tions relating to such territory as may seem to 
 them proper, and such rules and regulations 
 when approved by the governor and council 
 shall have the force of laws. The said commis- 
 sioners are authorized to liberate birds within 
 the limits of the said reservations, and, when in 
 their opinion such action is advisable, to co- 
 operate with land owners within such territory 
 in experiments in the propagation of birds or 
 quadrupeds. 
 
 Section 4. The said commissioners may ap- 
 point deputies to enforce the provisions of this 
 act and any rules and regulations made here- 
 under, and may authorize in writing any such 
 deputy or the owner or occupant of any land 
 within any such territory to hunt, pursue, trap, 
 snare or kill within the said territory and under 
 the direction of the said commissioners any 
 quadrupeds or birds which they may consider 
 
106 GAME LAWS. 
 
 harmful to birds and game or to agriculture, or 
 to take or remove the nests or eggs of any such 
 bird. 
 
 Section 5. If an order is made by the com- 
 missioners as aforesaid establishing a close sea- 
 son or a preserve as above provided, the com- 
 mission shall cause a copy of the order to be 
 published once a week for two successive weeks in 
 one or more newspaper published in the county 
 or counties embracing the territory, and shall 
 cause copies of the order to be posted in con- 
 spicuous places within the cities or towns in 
 which the territory is situated, and also within 
 the limits of the territory itself. If a great pond 
 or any part thereof or any seashore is included 
 within the territory as to which a close season is 
 ordered as aforesaid, a copy of the order shall be 
 filed in the office of the clerk of any city or town 
 bordering upon the pond or seashore, and also 
 in the office of the secretary of the common- 
 wealth. An order made by the commission in 
 accordance with the provisions hereof shall take 
 effect, when it is posted as above provided. 
 Any order made in accordance with the provi- 
 sions hereof shall contain a full description of the 
 territory so established, and the period for which 
 it is closed, if any such period is adopted. 
 
 Section 6. The commissioners may annually 
 expend, in carrying out the provisions of this 
 act, such sum as the general court may from 
 year to year appropriate, which shall be paid out 
 of the treasury of the commonwealth. 
 
 Section 7. Whenever a territory has been 
 established as a preserve or when a close season 
 has been established upon a territory by an 
 order as above provided, it shall be unlawful for 
 any person, except as above provided, to molest, 
 hunt, pursue, take or kill any bird or quadruped 
 within the said territory, or therein to disturb 
 or injure any nest, eggs or young or to remove 
 the eggs or young from the nest. 
 
GAME LAWS. 107 
 
 Section 8. The entrance of any person with 
 a firearm or any device adapted for killing or 
 injuring birds or quadrupeds or with a trap or 
 snare upon any territory established as a pre- 
 serve, or upon any territory upon which a close 
 season has been established, according to the 
 provisions of this act, shall be prima facie evi- 
 dence of a violation of the provisions of this 
 act. 
 
 Section 9. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act or of any rule or regulation made here- 
 under shall be punished by a fine of not more 
 than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment 
 for not more than sixty days, or by both such 
 fine and imprisonment. 
 
 Acts of 1909, Chap. 421. 
 Protection of ducks, geese, brant and swans. 
 
 Section 1 . It shall be unlawful to kill a swan 
 at any time or to pursue, hunt, take or kill any 
 other of the Anatidae, commonly known as wild 
 geese, brant, ducks and teal between the thirty- 
 first day of December and the fifteenth day of 
 September following, or to buy, sell, offer for 
 sale, or have in possession any swan or any other 
 of the Anatidae, or any part of any one of said 
 birds during the time when the taking or killing 
 of them is prohibited by law, whenever or where- 
 ever said birds may be taken or killed : provided, 
 however, that any person, firm or corporation 
 holding a written permit from the commissioners 
 on fisheries and game may buy, sell, or have in 
 possession any species of the Anatidae for pur- 
 poses of propagation only; and provided, further, 
 that nothing in this act shall prevent the taking 
 or possession of any of said birds by incorporated 
 natural history associations and museums, or 
 holders of certificates legally authorizing the 
 collection of specimens for scientific purposes, 
 or continued possession of such birds or parts 
 thereof for scientific purposes by such museums, 
 
10S GAME LAWS. 
 
 associations or holders of such certificates, and 
 provided, further, that a person, firm or corpora- 
 tion dealing in game or engaged in the cold stor- 
 age business may have in possession for storage 
 any species of duck or goose, between the first 
 day of January and the fifteenth day of Septem- 
 ber following, if such birds were not taken or 
 killed in this commonwealth contrary to the pro- 
 visions of this act, or were not taken, killed, or 
 transported contrary to the law of the state or 
 country in which such birds were taken or killed, 
 and provided, also, that such persons, firms or 
 corporations shall have notified in writing the 
 commissioners on fisheries and game on or before 
 January first of the species, number of each spe- 
 cies, and place of storage of such birds, and that 
 such birds are in places and packages convenient 
 for sealing. The commissioners or their depu- 
 ties shall then place a seal upon all receptacles 
 and packages containing any species of wild duck 
 or goose. The said seal shall not be removed by 
 any person other than the commissioners on fish- 
 eries and game or their deputies, under a penalty 
 of twenty dollars for each bird, and shall be re- 
 moved by the said commissioners or their depu- 
 ties upon the fifteenth day of September of each 
 year. The packages or contents thereof so sealed 
 shall not be removed from the storage warehouse 
 until the seal has been removed as above pro- 
 vided, under a penalty of twenty dollars for each 
 bird. 
 
 Section 2. Any resident of the common- 
 wealth may apply to the commissioners on fish- 
 eries and game for a permit to bring into the 
 commonwealth any of the above named species 
 of birds, during the close season above provided, 
 to a number not exceeding fifty birds in any one 
 year, and the said commissioners may grant such 
 permits upon such conditions and for such terms 
 as they may deem expedient, and they may sus- 
 pend or revoke a permit so granted. 
 
GAME LAWS. 109 
 
 Section 3. All acts and parts of acts incon- 
 sistent herewith, excepting chapter two hundred 
 and seventy-four of the acts of the year nineteen 
 hundred and six, which establishes a close season 
 on the wood duck until the year nineteen hun- 
 dred and eleven, are hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
 than- twenty dollars for each offence. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 1S7. 
 Shooting of certain wild fowl. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to pursue, 
 hunt, take or kill any of the wild fowl included 
 under the name of Anatidce during the time be- 
 tween two hours after sunset and two hours 
 before sunrise. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of this act shall be fined a sum not exceeding 
 fifty dollars for each bird in respect to which the 
 violation occurs. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 188. 
 
 Limits the number of black ducks that may be taken 
 in any one day. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
 son to take or kill more than fifteen black ducks 
 in any one calendar day. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates the provisions 
 of this act shall be fined not less than twenty 
 dollars for each bird in respect to which the viola- 
 tion occurs. 
 
 Acts of 1905, Chap. 273. 
 Shooting wild ducks and geese in Dukes County. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful in the county 
 of Dukes County for any person to shoot or kill 
 wild ducks or geese in any fresh water pond from 
 a boat, raft or other device located at a greater 
 distance than fifty yards from the shore. 
 
110 GAME LAWS. 
 
 Section 2. Any person violating any pro- 
 vision of this act shall be punished by a fine of 
 not less than five nor more than two hundred and 
 fifty dollars. 
 
 Acts of 1908, Chap. 331. 
 
 Pursuit and shooting of wild fowl in certain waters 
 of the town of Edgartown. 
 
 Section 1 . No person shall, in or with, any 
 boat, hunt, chase or pursue any wild water-fowl 
 in the inner harbor of Edgartown, including those 
 parts known as Katama bay and Mattakessett 
 bay, or in Cape Poge pond, so-called, in Edgar- 
 town, or in that part of the outer harbor of Ed- 
 gartown which lies southerly or easterly of a 
 straight line drawn from Cape Poge lighthouse to 
 and through and onward from the harbor light- 
 house of Edgartown; and no person shall in or 
 upon any of said waters shoot at any wild water- 
 fowl from any boat unless said boat be lying at 
 anchor or be stationed upon the shore or other 
 land or upon or against the ice: provided, how- 
 ever, that for the purpose of killing and securing 
 any wild water-fowl just wounded by him or his 
 companion, in lawful shooting, any person may 
 pursue such wounded fowl with a boat, propelled 
 by oar or oars only, to a distance not exceeding 
 one hundred yards from the spot where the same 
 was wounded, and may shoot the same from said 
 boat within said distance. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
 than five nor more than fifty dollars. 
 
 Acts of 1907, Chap. 234. 
 
 Hunting wild ducks or geese on fresh-water ponds 
 in the county of Dukes County. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful in the county 
 of Dukes County for any person to pursue, drive, 
 hunt, injure, shoot or kill wild ducks or geese in 
 
GAME LAWS. Ill 
 
 any fresh water pond from a boat, raft or other 
 floating device. 
 
 Section 2. Any person violating any pro- 
 vision of this act shall be punished by a fine of 
 not less than five nor more than two hundred and 
 fifty dollars for each offence. 
 
 Section 3. Any acts or parts of acts incon- 
 sistent herewith are hereby repealed. 
 
 Acts of 1906, Chap. 292, as amended by Acts op 1911, 
 Chap. 234. 
 
 Use of live decoys prohibited for hunting water fowl 
 in the county of Nantucket. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to use live 
 decoj^s for the hunting, taking or killing of water 
 fowl of any kind in the county of Nantucket. 
 The possession of live decoys shall be deemed 
 prima facie evidence of an intent to use the same 
 for the hunting, taking or killing of water fowl in 
 violation of the provisions of this section. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
 than twenty nor more than fifty dollars for each 
 offence. 
 
 Acts of 1910, Chap. 472. 
 
 Protecting upland plover, wild pigeons, gulls and 
 terns. 
 
 Section 1. Whoever takes or kills a Bar- 
 tramian sandpiper, also called upland plover, 
 before the fifteenth day of July in the year nine- 
 teen hundred and fifteen, a wild or passenger 
 pigeon, a Carolina or mourning dove, a gull or 
 tern at any time, shall be punished by a fine of 
 ten dollars for every bird so taken or killed. 
 
 Section 2. Section five of chapter ninety- 
 two of the Revised Laws as amended by chapter 
 one hundred and sixty-two of the acts of the year 
 nineteen hundred and three, and by chapter four 
 hundred and fourteen of the acts of the year nine- 
 teen hundred and five, and so much of section 
 
112 GAME LAWS. 
 
 three of chapter five hundred and eight of the 
 acts of the year nineteen hundred and nine as- 
 relates to the Bartramian sandpiper, also called 
 upland plover, are hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the 
 fifteenth day of July in the year nineteen hundred 
 and ten. 
 
 Acts of 1903, Chap. 244. 
 Protection of certain marsh birds. 
 
 Section 1. Whoever takes or kills any heron 
 or bittern, or has in possession any such bird or 
 part thereof, whenever or wherever taken, shall 
 be punished by a fine not exceeding ten dollars- 
 for every bird so taken or killed, or bird or part 
 of a bird so had in possession. 
 
 Section 2. Nothing in this act shall prevent 
 the owner or keeper of any trout pond or trout 
 hatchery from killing any heron or bittern en- 
 gaged in the act of destroying fish; nor shall 
 anything herein contained prevent the taking or 
 possession of said birds by natural history asso- 
 ciations, museums, or holders of certificates 
 authorizing the collection of specimens for scien- 
 tific purposes. 
 
 Acts of 1909, Chap. 508. 
 Protection of shore, marsh and beach birds. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to take, 
 kill or pursue with intent to kill, or to buy, sell, 
 offer for sale, or have in possession any of the 
 Limicolae, known as peeps, plover, snipe or sand- 
 pipers or any of the Rallidae known as rails, galli- 
 nules and quarks or mud hens, all of which birds 
 are known collectively as shore, marsh or beach 
 birds, between the thirty-first day of December 
 and the first day of August following, or a piping 
 plover or a kildeer plover at any time: provided, 
 however, that this act shall not be construed to 
 prohibit the possession in public storage ware- 
 houses of any of the said birds deposited therein 
 during the season when the same may lawfully 
 
GAME LAWS. 113 
 
 be taken; and provided, further, that nothing in 
 this act shall prohibit the taking or possession of 
 the said birds by incorporated natural history 
 associations or museums or by holders of cer- 
 tificates lawfully authorizing the collection of 
 specimens for scientific purposes. 
 
 Section 2. The commissioners on fisheries 
 and game may, in their discretion, and under 
 such restrictions as they may impose, permit any 
 person to bring into the commonwealth any of 
 the aforesaid birds to a number not exceeding 
 fifty in any one year, during the close season: 
 provided, that such birds shall not be sold or 
 otherwise disposed of for profit. 
 
 Section '6. All acts and parts of acts incon- 
 sistent with the provisions of this act are hereby 
 repealed, except that part of section five of 
 chapter ninety-two of the Revised Laws, as 
 amended by chapter one hundred and sixty-two 
 of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
 three and by chapter four hundred and fourteen 
 of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and five, 
 relative to the Bartramian sandpiper, also called 
 upland plover, and that part of section one of 
 chapter four hundred and forty-one of the acts of 
 the year nineteen hundred and eight relative to 
 the protection of woodcock. 
 
 Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
 than twenty dollars for each offence. 
 
 AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1904, CHAP. 369. 
 
 Shore and marsh birds can be sold only during open 
 season. 
 
 Section 6. Whoever buys, sells, exposes for 
 sale, or has in possession any of the birds named 
 in and protected by section five or section seven 
 of this chapter, during the time within which the 
 taking or killing thereof is prohibited, whenever 
 or wherever such birds may have been taken or 
 killed, shall be punished by a fine of ten dollars 
 
114 
 
 GAME LAWS. 
 
 for each bird; but a person, firm or corporation 
 dealing in game or engaged in the cold storage 
 business may have in possession, for storage pur- 
 poses only, the so-called shore, marsh and beach 
 birds during the time within which the taking or 
 killing of them is prohibited. 
 
 Revised Laws, Chap. 92, Sect. 7, as amended by Acts 
 op 1907, Chap. 250. 
 
 Relative to certain birds of prey. 
 
 Section 1. Whoever takes or kills a wild or 
 undomesticated bird not named in sections two, 
 three, four and five, except English sparrows, 
 crow blackbirds, crows, jays, the following named 
 birds of prey, — sharp-shinned hawk, cooper's 
 hawk, goshawk, red-tailed hawk, red-shouldered 
 hawk, duck hawk, pigeon hawk, barred owl, 
 great horned owl and snowy owl, — wild geese 
 and fresh water and sea fowl not named in said 
 sections, or wilfully destroys, disturbs or takes 
 a nest or eggs of any wild or undomesticated 
 birds, except such as are not protected by the 
 provisions of this section, shall be punished by 
 a fine of ten dollars for each bird taken or killed 
 or each nest or egg destroyed, disturbed or 
 taken contrary to the provisions of this section; 
 but a person over twenty-one years of age, who 
 has a certificate from the commissioners on 
 fisheries and game or from the president of the 
 Boston Society of Natural History that he is 
 engaged in the scientific study of ornithology or 
 is collecting in the interest of a scientific in- 
 stitution, may at any season take or kill or take 
 the nests and eggs of an undomesticated bird, 
 except woodcock, ruffed grouse and quail; but 
 the provisions of this section shall not authorize 
 a person to enter upon private grounds without 
 the consent of the owner thereof for the purpose 
 of taking nests or eggs or killing birds. Said 
 commissioners or the president of said society 
 may at any time revoke such certificate. 
 
GAME LAWS. 115 
 
 Section 2. Section one of chapter one hun- 
 dred and twenty-seven of the acts of the year 
 nineteen hundred and two is hereby amended by 
 striking out the words " birds of prey," in the 
 fifth line, and inserting in place thereof the words : 
 — the following named birds of prey, — sharp- 
 shinned hawk, cooper's hawk, goshawk, red- 
 tailed hawk, red-shouldered hawk, duck hawk, 
 pigeon hawk, barred owl, great horned owl and 
 snowy owl, — so as to read as follows : — Sec- 
 tion 1. Whoever captures or has in possession 
 a wild or undomesticated bird not named in 
 sections two, three, four or five of chapter ninety- 
 two of the Revised Laws, except English spar- 
 rows, crow blackbirds, crows, jays, the following 
 named birds of prey, — sharp-shinned hawk, 
 cooper's hawk, goshawk, red-tailed hawk, red- 
 shouldered hawk, duck hawk, pigeon hawk, 
 barred owl, great horned owl and snowy owl, — 
 wild geese and fresh water and sea fowl not 
 named in said sections, and birds which are not 
 found wild within the commonwealth of Massa- 
 chusetts, shall be punished by a fine of ten dol- 
 lars, but this act shall not apply to birds held in 
 captivity before this act takes effect. 
 
 Acts of 1903, Chap. 329. 
 Bodies or feathers of certain birds. 
 
 Section 1. Whoever has in possession the 
 body or feathers of a bird, the taking or killing 
 of which is prohibited by the provisions of the 
 preceding section or of section five of this chapter 
 whether taken in this commonwealth or else- 
 where, or wears such feathers for the purpose of 
 dress or ornament, shall be punished by a fine of 
 ten dollars; but the provisions of this section 
 shall not prohibit the taking or killing of such 
 birds by the holders of certificates provided for 
 in the preceding section, nor shall they apply to 
 natural history associations or to the proprietors 
 of museums, or other collections for scientific 
 
116 GAME LAWS. 
 
 purposes, or to non-residents of the common- 
 wealth passing through it or temporarily dwell- 
 ing therein. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 198. 
 Protection of homing pigeons. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any per- 
 son, not being the rightful owner, to catch, de- 
 tain, shoot or kill, injure, or in any way interfere 
 with a homing or carrier pigeon, or to remove 
 any identification mark, band or other thing 
 from such a pigeon. 
 
 Section 2. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine of not less 
 than twenty-five nor more than fifty dollars for 
 each pigeon in respect to which the violation 
 occurs. 
 
 Acts of 1907, Chap. 161. 
 
 Special game laws in Bristol county made uniform 
 with the General Laws. 
 
 Chapter three hundred and sixty-six of the 
 acts of the year nineteen hundred and four is 
 hereby repealed. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 172. 
 Gray squirrels. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful except only 
 between the fifteenth day of October and the 
 fifteenth day of November of each year, both 
 days inclusive, to hunt, take or kill a gray squir- 
 rel, or to sell, or offer for sale, or to have in pos- 
 session for the purpose of sale, a gray squirrel, 
 wherever taken or killed, or to take or kill at any 
 time a gray squirrel by means of a trap, net or 
 snare, or for the purpose of killing a gray squirrel 
 to construct or set a trap, snare or net. 
 
 Section 2. This act shall not apply to the 
 owner or occupant of any dwelling house or 
 other building who shall find any gray squirrel 
 doing an actual and substantial damage to the 
 same, or to any fruit tree, grain or other growing 
 cultivated crop. 
 
GAME LAWS. 117 
 
 Section 3. Chapter five hundred and sixty- 
 four of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
 ten is hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall forfeit not less than ten nor 
 more than twenty-five dollars for each offence. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 118. 
 Hares and rabbits. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to hunt, 
 take or kill a hare or rabbit between the first day 
 of March and the fifteenth day of October, both 
 inclusive, or to buy or sell or offer for sale a 
 hare or rabbit taken or killed during the said 
 period in this commonwealth, or taken or killed 
 at any time contrary to the laws of any other 
 state or country. But any person may buy or 
 sell hares or rabbits at any time: provided, that 
 they were not taken or killed contrary to the 
 laws of this commonwealth or of any other state 
 or country. 
 
 Section 2. It shall be unlawful at any time 
 to remove or attempt to remove a hare or rabbit 
 from any hole in the ground or from any stone 
 wall or from under any ledge of stone or log or 
 tree, and it shall be unlawful to take or kill a 
 hare or rabbit by a trap, snare or net, or for that 
 purpose to construct or set a trap, snare or net, 
 or to use a ferret. The possession of a ferret in 
 a place where hares or rabbits might be taken or 
 killed shall be prima facie evidence that the per- 
 son having the ferret in possession has used it 
 for taking and killing hares or rabbits contrary 
 to law. Ferrets used in violation hereof shall be 
 confiscated. 
 
 Section 3. This act shall not be construed 
 to prohibit farmers and fruit growers from trap- 
 ping rabbits in box traps at any time during the 
 year: provided, first, that such trapping is done 
 on land owned or leased by the person setting 
 the trap and used for the raising of fruit, vege- 
 
118 GAME LAWS. 
 
 tables or other products by the person so trap- 
 ping shall first have made an affidavit before 
 a justice of the peace that hares or rabbits have 
 injured fruit, vegetables or other products on 
 his said premises and shall have forwarded the 
 affidavit so made to the commissioners on 
 fisheries and game; and thirdly, that the said 
 commissioners have issued to him a permit so to 
 trap. It shall be unlawful to barter or sell hares 
 or rabbits trapped in accordance with the pro- 
 visions of this section. 
 
 Section 4. Chapter four hundred and sixty- 
 six of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
 nine and section two of chapter five hundred and 
 thirty-three of the acts of the year nineteen 
 hundred and ten are hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 5. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
 ing ten dollars for each offence. 
 
 Acts of 1910, Chap. 533, as amended by Acts of 1911, 
 Chap. 101. 
 
 Use of traps, snares, torches, swivel guns, ferrets, 
 power boats, etc., illegal. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to take or 
 kill a game bird or water fowl by means of a 
 trap, net or snare, or for the purpose of killing 
 a game bird or water fowl to construct or set a 
 trap, net or snare, or to pursue, shoot at or kill 
 any wild fowl, or any of the so-called shore, 
 marsh or beach birds, with a swivel or pivot gun, 
 or by the use of a torch, jack or artificial light, 
 or by the aid or use of any boat or floating de- 
 vice propelled by steam, naphtha, gasolene, elec- 
 tricity, compressed air, or any similar motive 
 power, or by any mechanical means other than 
 sails, oars or paddles. But the provisions of 
 this chapter shall not apply to persons shooting 
 at, or killing said birds from such boats or float- 
 ing devices if the same are at anchor. 
 
GAME LAWS. 119 
 
 Section 2. [Chapter 533, Acts of 1910, re- 
 pealed by chapter 118, Acts of 1911.] 
 
 Section 3. The provisions of the preceding 
 section shall not apply to the trapping, other 
 than by snare, of hares and rabbits upon his land 
 by an owner of land, or by a member of his family 
 if authorized by him, between the fifteenth day 
 of October and the first day of December. 
 
 Section 4. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
 ceeding twenty-five dollars for each offence. 
 
 Section 5. Section twelve of chapter ninety- 
 two of the Revised Laws, as amended by chapter 
 two hundred and seventy-eight of the acts of the 
 year nineteen hundred and six, and section eleven 
 of said chapter ninety-two, as amended by 
 chapter two hundred and forty-one of the acts 
 of the year nineteen hundred and six, and by 
 chapter three hundred and twenty-eight of the 
 acts of the year nineteen hundred and nine are 
 hereby repealed. 
 
 Acts of 1911, Chap. 215. 
 Trapping with scented bait forbidden. 
 
 Every person who shall set, place or locate a 
 trap or snare of any kind with scent, so-called, or 
 scented bait upon or near the premises of another, 
 without the consent of the owner and occupant 
 of said premises, shall, upon conviction, be pun- 
 ished for each offence by a fine of not more than 
 fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more 
 than thirty days, or by both such fine and im- 
 prisonment. 
 
 Shooting, Plymouth bay. 
 
 Section 13. Whoever in Plymouth harbor 
 or bay, so-called, including the waters adjacent 
 to the towns of Plymouth, Kingston and Dux- 
 bury, shoots at, kills or pursues a black duck, 
 goose, brant or other aquatic bird by the use of 
 
120 GAME LAWS. 
 
 a sneak boat, raft, floating box or similar device, 
 not an ordinary dory or rowboat, or by the use 
 of a pivot gun or swivel gun or any other firearm 
 not usually held and discharged from the shoulder 
 shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor 
 more than fifty dollars. 
 
 Trespass. 
 
 Section 14. Whoever, for the purpose of 
 shooting or trapping, enters upon land without 
 permission of the owner thereof, after such owner 
 has conspicuously posted thereon notice that 
 shooting or trapping thereon is prohibited, shall 
 be punished by a fine of not more than twenty 
 dollars. 
 
 Ownership of game. 
 
 Section 15. Game artificially propagated and 
 maintained upon land, upon which notice has 
 been posted as provided in the preceding section, 
 shall be the exclusive property of the person 
 propagating and maintaining it, but if he sells 
 such game for food at seasons when its capture 
 is prohibited by law, he shall be punished by a 
 fine of not more than twenty dollars. 
 
 Acts of 1909, Chap. 309. 
 Pheasants. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful to hunt, pur- 
 sue, take or kill, sell or offer for sale or to have in 
 possession, a pheasant of any kind or the flesh of 
 any pheasant except as hereinafter provided. 
 
 Section 2. Upon application to the commis- 
 sioners on fisheries and game, written permission 
 may be granted to any person to engage in the 
 rearing of pheasants and to dispose of the same, 
 under such rules and regulations, approved by 
 the governor and council, as may be made from 
 time to time by the commissioners; and such 
 artificially propagated pheasants may be bought 
 or sold or had in possession at any season of the 
 
GAME LAWS. 121 
 
 year, and any person receiving such permission 
 may hunt, pursue, take or kill such pheasants 
 upon the land owned or leased by him. 
 
 Section 3. Whoever violates any provision 
 of this act, or any rule or regulation made as 
 aforesaid, shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
 ing fifty dollars for each bird or part thereof in 
 respect to which the violation occurs. 
 
 Section 4. Chapter four hundred and 
 seventy-seven of the acts of the year nineteen 
 hundred and eight is hereby repealed. 
 
 Acts of 1910, Chap. 545. 
 The taking or killing of deer. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be unlawful, except as 
 hereinafter provided, to hunt, pursue, wound or 
 kill a deer, or to sell or offer for sale, or to have 
 in possession for the purpose of sale, a deer or 
 the flesh of a deer captured or killed in this com- 
 monwealth: provided, that this act shall not 
 apply to a tame deer belonging to any person 
 and kept on his own premises; and provided, 
 further, that any farmer or other person may, on 
 land owned or occupied by him, pursue, wound 
 or kill any deer found destroying or injuring any 
 fruit tree or any crop, except grass growing on 
 uncultivated land; and he may authorize any 
 member of his family, or any person employed 
 by him so to pursue, wound or kill a deer under 
 the circumstances above specified. In the event 
 of the wounding or killing of a deer as aforesaid, 
 it shall be the duty of the person by whom or 
 under whose direction the deer was wounded or 
 killed to mail or otherwise transmit within 
 twenty-four hours thereafter to the commis- 
 sioners on fisheries and game a report in writing 
 signed by him, of the facts relative to the said 
 wounding or killing. The said report shall state 
 the time and the place of the wounding or killing, 
 and the kind of tree or crop injured or destroyed 
 by the deer. It shall be unlawful to sell or offer 
 
122 GAME LAWS. 
 
 for sale the whole or any part of a deer killed 
 under the aforesaid provision. 
 
 Section 2. Any person who is duly licensed 
 to hunt in this commonwealth according to the 
 provisions of chapter four hundred and eighty- 
 four of the acts of the year nineteen hundred 
 and eight as amended by chapter three hundred 
 and twenty-five of the acts of the year nineteen 
 hundred and nine may, between sunrise of the 
 third Monday of November and sunset of the 
 following Saturday, hunt, pursue, take or kill 
 by the use of a shotgun, a wild deer, in the 
 counties of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, 
 Hampshire and Worcester, subject to the fol- 
 lowing restrictions and provisions: No person 
 shall kill or have in possession more than one 
 deer killed under the provisions of this section. 
 No deer shall be hunted, taken or killed on 
 land posted in accordance with the provisions of 
 section fourteen of chapter ninety-two of the 
 Revised Laws, or in violation of any city ordi- 
 nance or town by-law, or in any state reserva- 
 tion, or by any method prohibited by law. It 
 shall be unlawful to make, set or use any trap, 
 salt lick or other device for the purpose of en- 
 snaring, enticing, taking, injuring or killing a 
 deer. Whoever wounds or kills a deer under 
 the provisions of this section shall make a report 
 in writing, signed by him, and mailed or other- 
 wise transmitted within twenty-four hours, of 
 said wounding or killing, to the commissioners 
 on fisheries and game, stating the facts relative 
 to the wounding or killing. 
 
 Section 3. Nothing in this act shall be con- 
 strued as affecting the provisions of section eight- 
 een of chapter ninety-two of the Revised Laws, 
 as amended by chapter two hundred and forty- 
 five of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and 
 five. 
 
 Section 4. Section seventeen of chapter 
 ninety-two of the Revised Laws, as amended by 
 
GAME LAWS. 123 
 
 chapter three hundred and seven of the acts of 
 the year nineteen hundred and seven, and by 
 chapter three hundred and seventy-seven of the 
 acts of the year nineteen hundred and eight, 
 and by chapter three hundred and ninety-six of 
 the acts of the year nineteen hundred and nine 
 is hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 5. A violation of any provision of 
 this act shall be punished by fine not exceeding 
 one hundred dollars for each offence. 
 
 AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1905, CHAP. 245. 
 
 Protection of deer from dogs. 
 
 Section 18. The owner or keeper of a dog 
 found chasing or hunting deer at any time may 
 be punished by a fine of not more than twenty 
 dollars. Any of the commissioners on fisheries 
 and game, or their deputies, or any member of 
 the district police, or any officer qualified to serve 
 criminal process, may kill a dog found chasing 
 or hunting deer at any time if the dog is used for 
 such purpose with the knowledge and consent of 
 such owner or keeper, and the owner or keeper 
 of such dog shall be punished by a fine of fifty 
 dollars. If a dog has twice been found chasing or 
 hunting deer, and if the owner or keeper of the 
 dog has so been notified on each occasion by the 
 commissioners on fisheries and game, it shall be a 
 presumption of law, if the same dog is thereafter 
 found chasing or hunting deer, that such chasing 
 or hunting was with the knowledge and consent 
 of the said owner or keeper, unless the contrary 
 is shown by evidence. 
 
 Acts of 1903, Chap. 407. 
 Recovery for damages caused by wild deer. 
 
 Whoever suffers loss by the eating, browsing 
 or trampling of his fruit or ornamental trees, 
 vegetables, produce or crops by wild deer may, 
 if the damage is done in a city, inform the officer 
 
124 GAME LAWS. 
 
 of police of said city, who shall be designated to 
 receive such information by the mayor, and if the 
 damage is done in a town, may inform the chair- 
 man of the selectmen of the town wherein the 
 damage was done, who shall proceed to the prem- 
 ises where the damage was done and determine 
 whether the same was inflicted by deer, and if so, 
 appraise the amount thereof if it does not exceed 
 twenty dollars. If, in the opinion of said officer 
 of police or chairman, the amount of said damage 
 exceeds twenty dollars, he shall appoint two dis- 
 interested persons, who, with himself, shall 
 appraise under oath the amount thereof. The 
 said officer of police or chairman shall return a 
 certificate of the damages found, except in the 
 county of Suffolk, to the treasurer of the county 
 in which the damage is done, within ten days after 
 such appraisal is made. The treasurer shall 
 thereupon submit the same to the county com- 
 missioners, who, within thirty days, shall ex- 
 amine all such bills, and if any doubt exists, may 
 summon the appraisers and all parties interested 
 and make such examination as they may think 
 proper, and he shall transmit such bills, properly 
 approved, to the auditor of accounts, and they 
 shall be paid out of the treasury of the common- 
 wealth in the same manner as other claims against 
 the commonwealth. In the county of Suffolk 
 the certificate of damages shall be returned to 
 the treasurer of the city or town in which the 
 damage is done, who shall exercise and -perform 
 the rights and duties hereby conferred and im- 
 posed upon the county commissioners in other 
 counties. The appraisers shall receive from the 
 county, — or in the county of Suffolk, from the 
 city or town treasurer — one dollar each for every 
 such examination made by them, and the officer 
 or the chairman of selectmen acting in the case 
 shall receive twenty cents a mile, one way, for his 
 necessary travel. 
 
GAME LAWS. 125 
 
 Authority of commissioners. 
 
 Section 19. The authority of the commis- 
 sioners on fisheries and game and of their deputies 
 shall extend to the propagation, protection and 
 preservation of birds and animals in like manner 
 as to fish. 
 
 AS AMENDED BY ACTS OF 1907, CHAP. 300. 
 
 Disposal of fines. 
 
 Section 20. [Repealed March 31, 1908; com- 
 pare Acts of 1908, chapter 330, p. 82.] 
 
 Game not to be transported out of state. 
 
 Section 21. Whoever at any time takes or 
 sends or causes to be taken or transported beyond 
 the limits of the commonwealth a woodcock, 
 quail or ruffed grouse, which has been taken or 
 killed within the commonwealth, or has in pos- 
 session such bird or birds with intent to take or 
 cause the same to be taken out of the common- 
 wealth, shall be punished by a fine of ten dollars 
 for every bird so had in possession or taken or 
 caused to be taken or sent beyond the limits of 
 the commonwealth as aforesaid. 
 
 Acts of 1902, Chap. 236. 
 
 Section 1. Whoever, except as provided in 
 section twenty-one of chapter ninety-two of the 
 Revised Laws, takes or sends or causes to be 
 taken or sent out of the commonwealth any bird 
 or animal protected by the provisions of said 
 chapter which has illegally been taken or killed 
 within the commonwealth; and whoever has in 
 possession any such bird or animal with intent 
 to take or send the same or to cause the same to 
 be taken or sent out of the commonwealth, shall 
 be punished by a fine of twenty dollars for every 
 bird or animal so had in possession or taken or 
 sent beyond the limits of the commonwealth. 
 
126 GAME LAWS. 
 
 Section 2. Section twenty-two of chapter 
 ninety-two of the Revised Laws is hereby re- 
 pealed. 
 
 Introduction of foxes or raccoons into Dukes County 
 prohibited. 
 
 Section 23. Whoever knowingly introduces 
 into the county of Dukes County and liberates 
 therein a fox or raccoon shall be punished for 
 each offence by a fine of not less than twenty-five 
 nor more than fifty dollars or by imprisonment 
 for not more than thirty days, or by both such 
 fine and imprisonment. The county commis- 
 sioners of said county may offer a reward for the 
 destruction of hawks, foxes and raccoons, and 
 authorize the payment thereof by the county 
 upon proper proof of such destruction. 
 
 English sparrows to be killed. 
 
 Section 24. The officers having charge of 
 public buildings in cities and such officers as the 
 selectmen designate and appoint in towns shall 
 take and enforce such reasonable means and use 
 such appliances, except poison, as in their judg- 
 ment will effectively exterminate the English 
 sparrow in such city or town. Whoever wilfully 
 resists such officers while engaged in such duties 
 or knowingly interferes with the means used by 
 them for such purpose so as to render them 
 less effective shall be punished by a fine of not 
 more than twenty-five dollars for each offence. 
 The provisions of this section shall not authorize 
 an officer to enter on private property without 
 the consent of the owner or occupant thereof. 
 
 Acts of 1903, Chap. 344. 
 
 A bounty for killing a wild cat, Canada lynx or loup- 
 cervier. 
 
 Section 1 . Whoever in any town kills a wild 
 cat, Canada lynx or loupcervier not being in 
 captivity shall, upon producing satisfactory evi- 
 
GAME LAWS. 127 
 
 dence of such killing, be entitled to receive from 
 the treasurer of the town the sum of five dollars; 
 and all sums so paid out shall be repaid to the 
 town treasurer by the treasurer of the county 
 in which the town is situated: provided, that a 
 sworn statement thereof shall be transmitted 
 by the town treasurer to the county treasurer. 
 
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132 DISTRICTS, CITIES AND TOWNS. 
 
 CITIES AND TOWNS ALPHABETICALLY AR- 
 RANGED, WITH THE NUMBER OF THE DIS- 
 TRICT IN WHICH EACH IS INCLUDED. 
 
 8 Abington. 
 
 3 Bourne. 
 
 15 Acton. 
 
 15 Boxborough. 
 
 4 Aeushnet. 
 
 13 Boxford. 
 
 26 Adams. 
 
 17 Boylston. 
 
 22 Agawam. 
 
 8 Braintree. 
 
 28 AKord. 
 
 3 Brewster. 
 
 13 Amesbury. 
 
 7 Bridgewater. 
 
 22 Amherst. 
 
 21 Brimfield. 
 
 13 Andover. 
 
 7 Brockton. 
 
 11 Arlington. 
 
 17 Brookfield. 
 
 18 Ashburnham. 
 
 11 Brookline. 
 
 18 Ashby. 
 
 25 Buckland. 
 
 25 Ashfield. 
 
 13 Burlington. 
 
 10 Ashland. 
 
 11 Cambridge. 
 
 19 Athol. 
 
 9 Canton. 
 
 5 Attleborough. 
 
 15 Carlisle. 
 
 17 Auburn. 
 
 6 Carver. 
 
 7 Avon. 
 
 26 Charlemont. 
 
 15 Ayer. 
 
 21 Charlton. 
 
 3 Barnstable. 
 
 3 Chatham. 
 
 20 Barre. 
 
 15 Chelmsford. 
 
 27 Becket. 
 
 11 Chelsea. 
 
 13 Bedford. 
 
 26 Cheshire. 
 
 20 Belchertown. 
 
 23 Chester. 
 
 9 Bellingham. 
 
 24 Chesterfield. 
 
 11 Belmont. 
 
 22 Chicopee. 
 
 5 Berkley. 
 
 2 Chilmark. 
 
 10 Berlin. 
 
 26 Clarksburg. 
 
 25 Bernardston. 
 
 17 Clinton. 
 
 12 Beverly. 
 
 8 Cohasset. 
 
 13 Billerica. 
 
 25 Colrain. 
 
 16 Blackstone. 
 
 15 Concord. 
 
 23 Blandford. 
 
 25 Conway. 
 
 15 Bolton. 
 
 24 Cummington 
 
 11 Boston. 
 
 27 Dalton. 
 
DISTRICTS, CITIES AND TOWNS. 133 
 
 20 Dana. 
 
 14 Danvers. 
 
 4 Dartmouth. 
 
 11 Dedham. 
 
 25 Deerfield. 
 3 Dennis. 
 
 5 Dighton. 
 16 Douglas. 
 
 10 Dover. 
 13 Dracut. 
 
 21 Dudley. 
 
 15 Dunstable. 
 7 Duxbury. 
 
 7 East Bridgewater. 
 
 22 East Longmeadow. 
 
 3 Eastham. 
 
 24 Easthampton. 
 7 Easton. 
 
 2 Edgartown. 
 28 Egremont. 
 20 Enfield. 
 19 Erving. 
 
 12 Essex. 
 
 11 Everett. 
 
 4 Fairhaven. 
 
 5 Fall River. 
 2 Falmouth. 
 
 18 Fitchburg. 
 
 26 Florida. 
 
 9 Foxborough. 
 10 Framingham. 
 9 Franklin. 
 4 Freetown. 
 
 19 Gardner. 
 
 2 Gay Head. 
 
 12 Georgetown. 
 
 25 Gill. 
 
 12 Gloucester. 
 24 Goshen. 
 2 Gosnold. 
 
 16 Grafton. 
 22 Granbv. 
 
 23 Granville. 
 
 28 Great Barrington 
 
 25 Greenfield. 
 20 Greenwich. 
 15 Groton. 
 
 13 Groveland. 
 22 Hadley. 
 
 7 Halifax. 
 
 12 Hamilton. 
 22 Hampden. 
 27 Hancock. 
 
 8 Hanover. 
 
 7 Hanson. 
 
 20 Hard wick. 
 
 15 Harvard. 
 3 Harwich. 
 
 24 Hatfield. 
 
 13 Haverhill. 
 
 26 Hawley. 
 
 26 Heath. 
 
 8 Hingham. 
 
 27 Hinsdale. 
 8 Holbrook. 
 
 17 Holden. 
 
 21 Holland. 
 10 Holliston. 
 
 22 Holyoke. 
 
 16 Hopedale. 
 10 Hopkinton. 
 19 Hubbardston. 
 
 10 Hudson. 
 8 Hull. 
 
 23 Huntington. 
 
 11 Hyde Park. 
 
 12 Ipswich. 
 7 Kingston. 
 6 Lakeville. 
 
 18 Lancaster. 
 
 27 Lanesborough. 
 
 13 Lawrence. 
 
 28 Lee. 
 
 17 Leicester. 
 
134 DISTRICTS, CITIES AND TOWNS. 
 
 28 Lenox. 
 
 18 Leominster. 
 
 25 Leverett. 
 
 14 Lexington. 
 
 25 Leyden. 
 10 Lincoln. 
 
 15 Littleton. 
 
 22 Longmeadow. 
 
 13 Lowell. 
 
 22 Ludlow. 
 
 18 Lunenburg. 
 
 14 Lynn. 
 
 14 Lynnfield. 
 14 Maiden. 
 
 12 Manchester. 
 9 Mansfield. 
 
 14 Marblehead. 
 4 Marion. 
 
 10 Marlborough. 
 
 8 Marshfield. 
 
 3 Mashpee. 
 
 4 Mattapoisett. 
 
 15 Mavnard. 
 
 9 Medfield. 
 14 Medford. 
 
 9 Med way. 
 14 Melrose. 
 
 16 Mendon. 
 
 13 Merrimac. 
 
 13 Methuen. 
 
 6 Middleborough. 
 
 23 Middlefield. 
 
 14 Middleton. 
 
 10 Milford. 
 16 Millbury. 
 
 9 Millis. 
 
 11 Milton. 
 
 26 Monroe. 
 21 Monson. 
 25 Montague. 
 28 Monterey. 
 23 Montgomery. 
 
 28 Mount Washington. 
 14 Nahant. 
 
 1 Nantucket. 
 
 10 Natick. 
 
 11 Needham. 
 
 26 New Ash ford. 
 
 4 New Bedford. 
 17 New Braintree. 
 
 28 New Marlborough. 
 •20 New Salem. 
 
 12 Newbury. 
 
 12 Newbury port. 
 11 Newton. 
 
 9 Norfolk. 
 
 26 North Adams. 
 
 13 North Andover. 
 9 N. Attleborough. 
 
 17 North Brookfield. 
 
 14 North Reading. 
 
 24 Northampton. 
 16 Northborough. 
 
 16 Northbridge. 
 
 25 Northfield. 
 
 5 Norton. 
 
 8 Norwell. 
 
 9 Norwood. 
 
 2 Oak Bluffs. 
 
 17 Oakham. 
 
 19 Orange. 
 
 3 Orleans. 
 28 Otis. 
 
 16 Oxford. 
 21 Palmer. 
 
 17 Paxton. 
 
 14 Peabodv. 
 
 20 Pelhaim 
 
 7 Pembroke. 
 
 15 Pepperell. 
 
 27 Peru. 
 
 20 Petersham. 
 19 Phillipston. 
 27 Pittsfield. 
 
DISTRICTS, CITIES AND TOWNS. 135 
 
 25 Plainfield. 
 9 Plainville. 
 
 6 Plymouth. 
 
 7 Plympton. 
 20 Prescott. 
 18 Princeton. 
 
 3 Provincetown. 
 
 8 Quincy. 
 
 8 Randolph. 
 
 5 Raynham. 
 14 Reading. 
 
 5 Rehoboth. 
 14 Revere. 
 27 Richmond. 
 
 4 Rochester. 
 8 Rockland. 
 
 12 Rockport. 
 26 Rowe. 
 
 12 Rowley. 
 19 Royalston. 
 23 Russell. 
 17 Rutland. 
 14 Salem. 
 
 13 Salisbury. 
 28 Sandisfield. 
 
 3 Sandwich. 
 
 14 Saugus. 
 26 Savoy. 
 
 8 Scituate. 
 5 Seekonk. 
 
 9 Sharon. 
 28 Sheffield. 
 25 Shelburne. 
 
 10 Sherborn. 
 
 15 Shirley. 
 
 16 Shrewsbury. 
 20 Shutesbury. 
 
 5 Somerset. 
 
 11 Somerville. 
 
 22 South Hadley. 
 24 Southampton. 
 
 10 Southborough. 
 
 21 Southbridge. 
 23 Southwick. 
 
 17 Spencer. 
 
 22 Springfield. 
 
 18 Sterling. 
 
 28 Stockbridge. 
 
 14 Stoneham. 
 
 9 Stoughton. 
 
 15 Stow. 
 
 21 Sturbridge. 
 10 Sudbury. 
 25 Sunderland. 
 
 16 Sutton. 
 
 14 Swampscott. 
 
 5 Swansea. 
 
 5 Taunton. 
 19 Templeton. 
 
 13 Tewksbury. 
 
 2 Tisbury. 
 23 Tolland. 
 
 14 Topsfield. 
 18 Townsend. 
 
 3 Truro. 
 
 15 Tyngsborough. 
 28 Tyringham. 
 
 16 Upton. 
 16 Uxbridge. 
 14 Wakefield. 
 21 Wales. 
 
 9 Walpole. 
 
 10 Waltham. 
 
 20 Ware. 
 
 6 Wareham. 
 
 21 Warren. 
 19 W T arwick. 
 27 Washington. 
 
 11 Watertown. 
 
 10 Wayland. 
 16 Webster. 
 10 Welleslev. 
 
 3 Wellfleet. 
 19 Wendell. 
 
136 DISTRICTS, CITIES AND TOWNS. 
 
 12 Wenham. 
 
 17 West Boylston. 
 
 7 West Bridgewater. 
 
 21 West Brookfield. 
 12 West Newbury. 
 
 22 West Springfield. 
 28 West Stockbridge. 
 
 2 West Tisbury. 
 16 Westborough. 
 
 23 Westfield. 
 15 Westford. 
 
 24 Westhampton. 
 
 18 Westminster. 
 10 Weston. 
 
 4 Westport. 
 9 West wood. 
 
 8 Weymouth. 
 
 25 Whately. 
 7 Whitman. 
 
 22 Wilbraham. 
 24 Williamsburg. 
 
 26 Williamstown. 
 
 13 Wilmington. 
 19 Winchendon. 
 
 14 Winchester. 
 
 27 Windsor. 
 11 Winthrop. 
 14 Woburn. 
 17 Worcester. 
 24 Worthington. 
 
 9 Wrentham. 
 3 Yarmouth. 
 
DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 
 
 137 
 
 LIST OF CITIES AND TOWNS INCLUDED IN EACH 
 DISTRICT ASSIGNED TO DEPUTY FISH AND 
 GAME COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 District No. 1. 
 
 Deputy William H. Jones, Nantucket. 
 
 Telephone, 24-32. 
 
 Nantucket. 
 
 District No. 2. 
 
 Deputy Charles L. Savery, Vineyard Haven. 
 
 Telephone, 
 
 Deputy Allan Keniston, Edgartown. 
 
 Telephone, 6-21. 
 
 Gosnold. 
 
 Chilmark. 
 Edgartown 
 Falmouth. 
 Gav Head. 
 
 Oak Bluffs. 
 Tisbury. 
 West Tisbury. 
 
 District No. 3. 
 
 Deputy Everett B. Mecarta, Harwich. 
 
 Telephone, 36-4. 
 
 Barnstable. 
 
 Bourne. 
 
 Brewster. 
 
 Chatham. 
 
 Dennis. 
 
 Eastham. 
 
 Harwich. 
 
 Mash pee. 
 
 Orleans. 
 
 Provincetown. 
 
 Sandwich. 
 
 Truro. 
 
 Wellfleet. 
 
 Yarmouth. 
 
 District No. 4. 
 
 Deputy Samuel J. Lowe, New Bedford. 
 Telephone, 761-2. 
 
 Mattapoisett. 
 
 Acushnet. 
 
 Dartmouth 
 
 Fairhaven. 
 
 Freetown. 
 
 Marion. 
 
 New Bedford. 
 
 Rochester. 
 
 Westport. 
 
138 
 
 DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 
 
 District No. 5. 
 
 Deputy Allen A. 
 
 David, Taunton. 
 
 Telephone, 966-1. 
 
 Attleborough. 
 
 Berkley. 
 
 Dighton. 
 
 Rehoboth. 
 
 Seekonk. 
 
 Somerset. 
 
 Fall River. 
 
 Swansea. 
 
 Norton. 
 
 Taunton. 
 
 Raynham. 
 
 
 District 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Deputy Nathan W. Pratt, Middleborough. 
 
 Telephon 
 
 e, 153-4. 
 
 Carver. 
 Lakeville. 
 
 Plymouth. 
 Wareham. 
 
 Middleborough. 
 
 
 District 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Deputy Charles E 
 
 Tribou, Brockton. 
 
 Telephor 
 
 le, 2101. 
 
 Avon . 
 
 Hanson. 
 
 Bridgewater. 
 
 Kingston. 
 
 Brockton. 
 
 Pembroke. 
 
 Duxbury. 
 
 East Bridgewater. 
 
 Plympton. 
 
 West Bridgewater. 
 
 Easton. 
 
 Whitman. 
 
 Halifax. 
 
 
 District 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 Deputy, 
 
 t 
 
 Telephone, 
 
 
 Abington. 
 Braintree. 
 
 Marshfield. 
 Norwell. 
 
 Cohasset. 
 Hanover. 
 Hingham. 
 
 Quincy. 
 
 Randolph. 
 
 Rockland. 
 
 Holbrook. 
 
 Scituate. 
 
 Hull. 
 
 Wevmouth. 
 
DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 
 
 139 
 
 District No. 9. 
 Deputy William H. Leonard, East Foxborough. 
 Telephone, Foxborough 9-4. 
 
 Bellingham. 
 
 Canton. 
 
 Foxborough. 
 
 Franklin. 
 
 Mansfield. 
 
 Medfield. 
 
 Med way. 
 
 Millis. ' 
 
 Norfolk. 
 
 North Attleborough. 
 
 Norwood. 
 
 Plainville. 
 
 Sharon. 
 
 Stoughton. 
 
 Walpole. 
 
 West wood. 
 
 Wrentham. 
 
 District No. 10. 
 
 Deputy James E. Bemis, South Framingham. 
 
 Telephone, 564-J. 
 
 Ashland. 
 
 Berlin. 
 
 Dover. 
 
 Framingham. 
 
 Holliston. 
 
 Hopkinton. 
 
 Hudson. 
 
 Lincoln. 
 
 Marlborough. 
 
 Milford. 
 
 Natick. 
 
 Sherborn. 
 
 Southborough. 
 
 Sudbury. 
 
 Waltham. 
 
 Way land. 
 
 Wellesley. 
 
 Weston. 
 
 District No. 11. 
 
 Deputy Frederick W. Goodwin, East Boston. 
 Telephone, East Boston 515-2. 
 
 Arlington. 
 
 Belmont. 
 
 Boston. 
 
 Brookline. 
 
 Cambridge. 
 
 Chelsea. 
 
 Dedham. 
 
 Everett. 
 
 Hyde Park. 
 
 Milton. 
 
 Needham. 
 
 Newton. 
 
 Somerville. 
 
 Watertown. 
 
 Winthrop. 
 
140 
 
 DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 
 
 District No. 12. 
 
 Deputy Carl E. Grant, Essex. 
 
 Telephone,. 1-3. 
 
 Beverly. 
 
 Essex. 
 
 Georgetown. 
 
 Gloucester. 
 
 Hamilton. 
 
 Ipswich. 
 
 Manchester. 
 
 Newbury. 
 Newbury port. 
 Rockport. 
 Rowley. 
 Wenham. 
 West Newbury. 
 
 District No. 13. 
 
 Deputy Walter A. Larkin, Andover. 
 Telephone, Andover 32-12. 
 
 Amesbury. 
 
 Andover. 
 
 Bedford. 
 
 Billerica. 
 
 Boxford. 
 
 Burlington. 
 
 Dracut. 
 
 Groveland. 
 
 Haverhill. 
 
 Lawrence. 
 
 Lowell. 
 
 Merrimac. 
 
 Methuen. 
 
 North Andover. 
 
 Salisbury. 
 
 Tewksbury. 
 
 Wilmington. 
 
 District No. 14. 
 
 Deputy Thomas L. Burney, Lynn. 
 Telephone, 1983-3. 
 
 Dan vers. 
 
 Lexington. 
 
 Lynn. 
 
 Lynnfield. 
 
 Maiden. 
 
 Marblehead. 
 
 Medford. 
 
 Melrose. 
 
 Middleton. 
 
 Nahant. 
 
 North Reading. 
 
 Peabody. 
 
 Reading. 
 
 Revere. 
 
 Salem. 
 
 Saugus. 
 
 Stoneham. 
 
 Swampscott. 
 
 Topsfield. 
 
 Wakefield. 
 
 Winchester. 
 
 Woburn. 
 
DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 
 
 141 
 
 
 District No. 15. 
 
 Deputy James 
 
 I. Mills, Ayer. 
 
 
 Telephone, 51-2. 
 
 Acton. 
 
 
 Harvard. 
 
 Ayer. 
 
 
 Littleton. 
 
 Bolton. 
 
 
 Maynard. 
 
 Boxborougli. 
 
 
 Pepperell. 
 
 Carlisle. 
 
 
 Shirley. 
 
 Chelmsford. 
 
 
 Stow. 
 
 Concord. 
 
 
 Tyngsborough. 
 
 Dunstable. 
 
 
 Westford. 
 
 Groton. 
 
 
 
 
 District 
 
 No. 16. 
 
 Deputy G 
 
 GORGE H 
 
 Brown, Millbury. 
 
 
 Telephon 
 
 e, 26-13. 
 
 Blackstone. 
 
 
 Oxford. 
 
 Douglas. 
 
 
 Shrewsbury. 
 
 Grafton. 
 
 
 Sutton. 
 
 Hopedale. 
 
 
 Upton. 
 
 Mendon. 
 
 
 Uxbridge. 
 
 Millbury. 
 
 
 Webster. 
 
 Northborough. 
 
 
 Westborough. 
 
 Northbridge. 
 
 
 
 
 District 
 
 No. 17. 
 
 Deputy 
 
 A. D. P 
 
 utnam, Spencer. 
 
 Telephone, 7 
 
 5-4 or 75-6. 
 
 Auburn. 
 
 
 North Brookfield. 
 
 Boylston. 
 
 
 Oakham. 
 
 Brookfield. 
 
 
 Paxton. 
 
 Clinton. 
 
 
 Rutland. 
 
 Holden. 
 
 
 Spencer. 
 
 Leicester. 
 
 
 West Boylston. 
 
 New Braintree. 
 
 
 Worcester. 
 
142 
 
 DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 
 
 District No. 18. 
 
 Deputy Irving O. Converse, Fitchburg. 
 Telephone, 269-1. 
 
 Lunenburg. 
 
 Ashby. 
 
 Ashburnham 
 
 Fitchburg. 
 
 Lancaster. 
 
 Leominster. 
 
 Princeton. 
 Sterling. 
 Townsend. 
 Westminster. 
 
 District No. 19. 
 
 Deputy Albert L. Stratton, Athol. 
 
 Telephone, 24-0. 
 
 Athol. 
 
 
 Royalston. 
 
 Erving. 
 
 
 Templeton. 
 
 Gardner. 
 
 
 Warwick". 
 
 Hubbardston. 
 
 
 Wendell. 
 
 Orange. 
 
 
 Winchendon. 
 
 Phillipston. 
 
 
 
 
 District 
 
 No. 20. 
 
 Deputy 
 
 Dennis 
 
 F. Shea, Ware. 
 
 
 Telepho 
 
 ae, 132. 
 
 Barre. 
 
 
 New Salem. 
 
 Belchertown. 
 
 
 Pelham. 
 
 Dana. 
 
 
 Petersham. 
 
 Enfield. 
 
 
 Prescott. 
 
 Greenwich. 
 
 
 Shutesbury. 
 
 Hard wick. 
 
 
 Ware. 
 
 District No. 21. 
 
 Deputy John F. Litman, Palmer. 
 Telephone, 17-5. 
 
 Brimfield. 
 
 Charlton. 
 
 Dudlev. 
 
 Holland. 
 
 Monson. 
 
 Palmer. 
 
 Southbridge. 
 
 Sturbridge. 
 
 Wales. 
 
 Warren. 
 
 West Brookfield. 
 
DEPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 
 
 143 
 
 District No. 22. 
 
 Deputy James P. Hatch, Springfield. 
 Telephone, 2458-1. 
 
 Agawam. 
 
 Amherst. 
 
 Chicopee. 
 
 East Longmeadow. 
 
 Granby. 
 
 Hadley. 
 
 Hampden. 
 
 Holyoke. 
 
 Longmeadow. 
 
 Ludlow. 
 
 South Hadley. 
 
 Springfield. 
 
 West Springfield. 
 
 Wilbraham. 
 
 District No. 23. 
 
 Deputy Charles H. Gehle, Westfield. 
 Telephone, 843 or 920. 
 
 Blandford. 
 
 
 Montgomery. 
 
 Chester. 
 
 
 Russell. 
 
 Granville. 
 
 
 Southwick. 
 
 Huntington. 
 
 
 Tolland. 
 
 Middlefield. 
 
 
 Westfield. 
 
 
 District 
 
 No. 24. 
 
 Deputy, 
 
 
 
 Telephone, 
 
 
 Chesterfield. 
 
 
 Northampton. 
 
 Cummington. 
 
 
 Southampton. 
 
 Easthampton. 
 
 
 Westhampton. 
 
 Goshen. 
 
 
 Williamsburg. 
 
 Hatfield. 
 
 
 Worthington. 
 
 
 District 
 
 No. 25. 
 
 Deputy Lyman E. '. 
 
 ?Iuberg, Greenfield 
 
 
 Telepho 
 
 ne, 585. 
 
 Ashfield. 
 
 
 Conway. 
 
 Bernardston. 
 
 
 Deerfield. 
 
 Buckland. 
 
 
 Gill. 
 
 Colrain. 
 
 
 Greenfield. 
 
14. 
 
 dPUTIES AND DISTRICTS. 
 
 Leverett. 
 Leyden. 
 Montague. 
 Northfield. 
 
 Plainfield. 
 Shelburne. 
 Sunderland. 
 Whately. 
 
 District No. 26. 
 
 Deputy Arthur M. Nichols, North Adams. 
 
 Telephone, 537-2. 
 
 Adams. 
 
 
 Monroe. 
 
 Charlemont. 
 
 
 New Ashford. 
 
 Cheshire. 
 
 
 North Adams. 
 
 Clarksburg. 
 
 
 Rowe. 
 
 Florida. 
 
 
 Savoj^. 
 
 Hawley. 
 
 
 Williamstown. 
 
 Heath. 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 District 
 
 No. 27. 
 
 Deputy 
 
 Fred R. Zeigler, Pittsfield 
 
 
 Telephon< 
 
 3, 362-11. 
 
 Becket. 
 
 
 Peru. 
 
 Dalton. 
 
 
 Pittsfield. 
 
 Hancock. 
 
 
 Richmond. 
 
 Hinsdale. 
 
 
 Washington. 
 
 Lanesborough 
 
 
 Windsor. 
 
 District No. 28. 
 
 Deputy William W. Sargood, Lee. 
 
 Telephone, 119-24. 
 
 Alford. 
 Egremont. 
 Great BarringtoBt, 
 Lee. f) X 
 
 Lenox. 
 
 Monterey. 
 
 Mount Washington. 
 
 New Marlborough. 
 
 Otis. 
 
 Sandisfield. 
 
 Sheffield. 
 
 Stockbridge. 
 
 Tyringham. 
 
 West Stockbridge. 
 
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