reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 130 § 27 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 27 - Criminal and Tort Liability for Discharge of Sewage or Other Substance Injurious to Public Health Into Coastal Waters

Section 27. Whoever, contrary to any provision of section twenty-five, himself, or by his agent or servant, permits the entrance or discharge into or on any part of said coastal waters or tributaries of such waters, sewage, heated effluent, or any other substance injurious to public health or tending to contaminate any shellfish area or shellfish therein, within the limits of a city or town, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred and fifty nor more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year or both and shall be liable in tort, to said city or town, in triple the amount of damage thereby done.  Whoever, contrary to any provision of section twenty-five, himself, or by his agent or servant, permits the entrance or discharge into or on any part of said coastal waters or tributaries of such waters, sewage, heated effluent, or any other substance injurious to public health or causing injury or damage to any fishery resource, with the exception of shellfish located within the limits of a city or town, within the marine boundaries of the commonwealth, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred and fifty dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year or both and shall be liable in tort to the commonwealth, in triple the amount of damage thereby done.  Whoever, contrary to any provision of section twenty-five, himself, or by his agent or servant, permits the entrance or discharge into or on any part of said coastal waters or tributaries of such waters, sewage, heated effluent, or any other substance injurious to public health or causing injury or damage to any private fishery resource within the boundaries of the commonwealth shall be liable in tort, to the owners or lessees of any private rights therein, in triple the amount of damage thereby done.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 28 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 28 - Exclusive Right of Ownership and Control of Fish of Riparian Owners of Ponds; Cultivation Rights

Section 28. The proprietors of lands upon which a pond is created and maintained by excavating and enclosing the same and by the artificial flowing of same with coastal waters, for the purpose of cultivating and maintaining fish thereon, shall have the exclusive rights to cultivate and the exclusive ownership and control of, all fish thereon or therein, whether artificially or naturally propagated; provided, that no fish determined by the director to be injurious may be cultivated or maintained thereon or therein, and that no fish may be taken therefrom of a size, of an age, at a season, or for a purpose, prohibited by law; and provided, further, that before any such excavation shall be made plans for an artificial flowage of the same with coastal waters shall be approved by the director and the department of environmental protection.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 29 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 29 - Construction of Weir, Pound Net or Fish Trap

Section 29. The aldermen or city council of a city or the selectmen of a town lying upon coastal waters may, in writing, and upon blanks, supplied by the director, authorize any person to construct weirs, pound nets or fish traps in tidewater in locations where no harbor lines exist and also in locations beyond established harbor lines, within the limits of such city or town, for a term not exceeding five years, upon such conditions and subject to such regulations as the aldermen, city council or the selectmen may impose; but no authority so given shall be valid unless approved in writing as to location and construction by the department and the director, and subject to such conditions as it and he may impose; nor until such authorization, together with such approval, has been filed with the director.  No person shall construct or maintain a weir, pound net or fish trap in the tidewater unless in accordance with this section.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 30 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 30 - Marking of Weir, Pound Net or Fish Trap With Number of Approval

Section 30. Any person who constructs or maintains any weir, pound net or fish trap after having received written approval therefor as provided in section twenty-nine shall at all times while such structure is maintained have the same plainly marked with the number of such approval painted or printed on a sign or flag in figures at least six inches in height and conspicuously displayed on the inshore and offshore ends of such structure.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 31 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 31 - Destruction or Injury to Weir, Pound Net or Fish Trap

Section 31. No person shall, without the consent of the owner, take, use, destroy, injure or molest a weir, pound net, fish trap, seine, set net or lobster or crab pot or other fishing gear, or a fish car or other contrivance used for the purpose of storing fish, including any such fishing gear which is swept ashore by storm or tide or other natural causes and deposited upon the shore, beaches or flats, whether public or private, or take fish therefrom.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 32 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 32 - Fishing Gear Swept Ashore by Natural Causes; Recovery

Section 32. The owner of any fishing gear mentioned in section thirty-one which is swept ashore by storm or tide or other natural causes and deposited upon the shore, beaches or flats, whether public or private, may recover the same within thirty days from the time of such deposit without liability for trespass; provided, that such owner in so doing does not commit any unreasonable or wanton injury to the property whereupon such fishing gear is deposited. In the event such fishing gear shall not be so recovered within such period or recovered by other legal means within sixty days it shall enure to the riparian owner of such shore, beach or flat in the manner provided in chapter one hundred and thirty-four.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 33 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 33 - Reports of Owners of Boats and Fishing Gear; Marking of Fish Cars

Section 33. The owner of every boat, and the owner of every pound net, fish trap, weir, fyke net or similar contrivance, fishing pier, seine, drag or gill net, lobster or crab pot or trap or other fishing gear, hereinafter referred to as devices, used for fishing purposes, and every licensee under section thirty-eight shall annually, before January thirty-first, make a written report, on oath, to the director, of the number of pounds and the value of each kind of edible fish caught by him with such boat or such devices and the number of lobsters and edible crabs taken by him in pots or traps for the twelve months ending on the preceding December thirty-first, and the number and value of the devices, if any, used in such catching or taking, and the number of persons, if any, employed therein; and for such purpose the director shall annually, on or before March fifteenth, 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, so far as practicable, the above required results of each month's fishing. In lieu of said annual report the director may require such owner to submit a monthly report of such facts listed herein as the director may deem advisable. Such owner shall apply to the director for such blank forms. The owner of any fish cars or other contrivances used for keeping fish, lobsters or edible crabs shall have his name and residence legibly marked thereon. The license, permit or certificate of any person to take such fish, lobsters or edible crabs who refuses, or knowingly or wilfully neglects to make the report required hereby or knowingly or wilfully makes a false report shall be suspended and he shall not receive a new license, certificate or permit until such report is made.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 34 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 34 - Catching, Buying and Selling Smelt Between March 15 and June 15; Wholesale or Retail Dealers

Section 34. Between March 15 and June 15, inclusive, no person shall catch or take any smelt from the waters of the commonwealth or buy, receive, sell or offer or expose for sale, transport or possess a smelt so taken. Any wholesale or retail dealer who sells, offers or exposes for sale or has in his possession any smelt between the said dates must have in his possession a tag or bill of lading or other paper showing that such smelt was taken from waters outside the commonwealth, and the possession of a smelt between said dates by a person other than a wholesale or retail dealer holding such a certificate shall be prima facie evidence of violation of this section.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 35 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 35 - Taking Smelt Except by Angling; Inadvertent Taking by Net; Possession of Net, Seine or Trap as Prima Facie Evidence

Section 35. No person shall take or attempt to take a smelt in any other manner than by angling. This section shall not apply to smelt inadvertently taken in a seine or net during the time and in the manner in which fishing is allowed for perch, herring or alewives; provided, however, that such smelt so taken shall be immediately liberated alive in the waters from which it was taken.  Possession of any net, seine, trap or device for catching fish, other than a naturally or artificially baited hook, in or upon the harbors, rivers or tributaries of the commonwealth, or on the banks of the same, if adapted to and apparently intended for the present catching of smelt, shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this section and the possession in or upon said harbors, rivers or tributaries, or on the banks of the same, of any fresh smelt, between sunset and sunrise, or under other circumstances reasonably indicating the catching of the same otherwise than by angling, shall be prima facie evidence that said smelt were caught or intended to be caught contrary to such provisions by the person in whose possession they are found.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 36 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 36 - Closing Portions of Streams Flowing Into Coastal Waters During Spawning Season

Section 36. For the purpose of protecting smelt and their spawn the director may close such portions of streams flowing into the coastal waters during the spawning season of such fish as he may deem necessary and may forbid the entrance into such portions of said streams by posting on or near such closed areas notices of such closing, giving the bounds thereof; provided however, that such closing and such prohibition of entrance shall not be for a period longer than sixty days in any one year. No person shall molest or disturb smelt or their spawn within such closed areas.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 37 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 37 - Lobsters and Crabs; Licenses

  Section 37. No person, either as principal, agent or employee, shall at any time catch lobsters or edible crabs in, or take them from, the coastal waters or place, set, keep, maintain, supervise, lift, raise or draw in or from the said waters, or cause to be placed, set, kept, maintained, supervised, lifted, raised or drawn in or from the said waters, any pot, trap or other contrivance designed for, or adapted to, the taking of lobsters or edible crabs, unless licensed so to do under section thirty-eight.  No person shall at any time take from any waters under the jurisdiction of the commonwealth any lobsters by spearing, dipping or dragging.[ Third paragraph effective until December 13, 2021. Deleted by 2021, 102, Sec. 42.]  In the waters of Gosnold in the county of Dukes County, no such pot, trap or other contrivance shall be buoyed otherwise than separately and plainly.  Nothing in this section or section thirty-eight shall be construed to prohibit or regulate the taking of crabs other than edible crabs solely for bait purposes, or for the taking of edible crabs for use of one's immediate family; provided, that the number of such edible crabs so taken by any one person shall not exceed fifty in one day and such edible crabs shall not be taken by pots or traps.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 37a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 37a - Green Crabs

Section 37A. Any person may take green crabs, more specifically known as the species Carcinides Maenas, provided, that such person (a) gives written notice to such effect to the director, (b) marks all traps, gear and buoys in a uniform manner in accordance with requirements set forth by said director, and (c) files an annual report with the director setting forth the approximate number of bushels of said crabs taken each month of the year and whether such crabs were destroyed or used for bait purposes in the commonwealth. Any person subject to the provisions of this section shall comply with regulations which the director is hereby authorized to promulgate from time to time.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 38a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 38a - Display of License Number and Buoy Colors

Section 38A. No person or persons shall take or attempt to take, by diving, lobsters, or edible crabs from the coastal waters, unless he displays his lobster license number upon his air tank, and for each person diving alone or for each group of divers upon the surface of said waters, in the area where the person or persons is taking or attempting to take lobsters and edible crabs, a floating marker shall be displayed with the license number of each person diving alone or in the case of any group of divers the license number of every person taking or attempting to take lobsters shall be displayed. Said number on a floating marker shall be displayed in the form of a single panel not less than twelve inches in height and width and shall be buoyed in an upright position. The marker shall have a white background with the licensee's number, or in the case of a group the licensees' numbers, displayed on both sides thereof by black numerals of a size prescribed by regulation of the director.  No person shall take or attempt to take with the aid and use of a boat any lobsters or edible crabs by pots, traps or other contrivances designed or adapted to the taking of lobsters or edible crabs without first displaying the buoy colors used by him in accordance with his license by painting the color or colors (a) on each side of the hull or upon panels attached to each side of the hull, or (b) upon both sides of a single panel which is attached to the boat on top of the bow, or by mounting a buoy, not less than eleven inches in length, and four inches in diameter, with his color scheme thereon, in an upright position at least six inches above the roof of the boat. Color schemes painted on the hull of the boat or upon panels shall be displayed as a solid colored strip four inches high and eighteen inches long, each strip abutting another on the longest side, if more than one color, to form a rectangle or square. The rectangle or square thus formed shall have a black border all the way around at least one inch wide. All color schemes so displayed shall be clearly visible from both sides of the boat.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 39 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 39 - Hours for Tending, Lifting or Drawing Lobster or Crab Pots or Traps

Section 39. No person shall tend, lift, raise or draw a lobster or crab pot or trap, or take lobsters or edible crabs from such a pot or trap, or catch or take lobsters from the coastal waters by any means, except during the period from one half hour before sunrise until one half hour after sunset, except that traps may be taken up by the owner or by his employee or agent, if licensed under section thirty-eight, at any time when they are endangered by storms, and except that the director, deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs of enforcement, deputy chiefs of enforcement, environmental police officers and deputy environmental police officers may at any time lift, raise or draw such pot or trap with its contents, if any, for the purpose of inspection provided in this chapter.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 41 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 41 - Taking or Selling Female Lobsters Bearing Eggs

Section 41. Any person who takes, sells or has in possession any female lobster bearing externally attached eggs shall be punished for the first offense by a fine of not less than $150 nor more than $500 for every such lobster and for a subsequent offense by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 for every such lobster, or by imprisonment for not less than 60 days nor more than six months, or both such fine and imprisonment. A person who takes any such lobster and immediately returns it alive to the waters from which it was taken shall not be subject to such penalty. This section shall not apply to lobsters extruding eggs in fish cars or pounds if they are immediately liberated alive in the coastal waters, nor to the taking or possession of lobsters as provided in section 43.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 41a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 41a - Taking of Female Egg-Bearing Lobsters While Fishing or Landing

Section 41A. Any person who takes, sells or has in his possession any female lobster from which the eggs have been removed by means other than natural hatching, shall be punished for the first offense by a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $1,000 for every such lobster and for a subsequent offense by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $2,000 for every such lobster, or by imprisonment for not less than 90 days nor more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment. Detection on a female lobster of any substance capable of removing attached eggs or of physical evidence that attached eggs have been removed by a method other than by natural hatching shall be prima facie evidence that a violation of this section has occurred. Any environmental police officer, deputy environmental police officer or the director or his designee may, in the performance of his duties, remove one or more appendages from any lobster for testing purposes.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 42 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 42 - Plants for Propagation of Lobsters; Establishment and Maintenance

Section 42. The director shall, to the extent of appropriation or appropriations therefor, establish and maintain a plant or plants for the propagation of lobsters by rearing them from the time of hatching to the bottom crawling stages. Lobsters from which the eggs are to be obtained for such hatching and rearing shall be taken and disposed of in accordance with section forty-three. The commissioner, in his budget estimates, filed pursuant to section three of chapter twenty-nine, shall include a statement of appropriation or appropriations recommended by him for the purpose of carrying this section into effect.
MA Gen L ch 130 § 43 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries|Section 43 - Conditions for Taking or Possession of Egg-Bearing Lobsters; Rearing and Liberating of Young; Disposition of Lobsters

Section 43. Between March first and October thirty-first, both dates inclusive, in any year, the director may authorize the taking or possession of egg-bearing lobsters by any person licensed under section thirty-eight to catch or take lobsters and edible crabs, upon the condition that such egg-bearing lobsters shall be taken, held or delivered in accordance with the instructions of the director to a plant for the propagation of lobsters established and maintained for rearing them from the time of hatching to the bottom crawling stages or for such other disposition as the director may deem for the best interests of the commonwealth. If the eggs from the lobsters so obtained shall be hatched the young therefrom shall be reared to the bottom crawling stages. Lobsters from which eggs have been so hatched, and the young lobsters so reared, shall be liberated, as nearly as possible, in the areas from which such egg-bearing lobsters were obtained and in the same proportion. Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to prevent the director from otherwise disposing of lobsters from which eggs have been so removed, or young lobsters so reared, when in the opinion of the director by so doing depleted or non-productive areas may be benefited.