reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 24 - Violation of Sec. 23; Tort Liability

Section 24. Whoever, contrary to any provision of section twenty-three, himself, or by his agent or servant, does, or allows or suffers to be done, any act causing damage to the shellfish resources within the limits of a city or town shall be liable to said city or town in tort, in triple the amount of damage thereby done.
Whoever, contrary to any provision of section twenty-three, himself, or by his agent or servant, does, or allows or suffers to be done, any act causing 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 liable to the commonwealth in tort, in triple the amount of damage thereby done.
Whoever, contrary to any provision of section twenty-three, himself, or by his agent or servant, does, or allows or suffers to be done, any act causing damage to any private fishery resource within the marine boundaries of the commonwealth, shall be liable in tort, in triple the amount of the damage, to any person owning or leasing such private fishery rights.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 25 - Discharge of Sewage or Other Substance Injurious to Public Health Into Coastal Waters; Approved Drainage

Section 25. The entrance or discharge into the coastal waters, or the tributaries of such waters, of sewage or any other substance which might be injurious to the public health or might tend to contaminate any shellfish areas or shellfish therein which may be determined by the director to be of commercial value, or injuriously affect the fisheries therein, is hereby prohibited; provided, that this section shall not be deemed to interfere with the exercise of any right of drainage which had been approved by the department of public health prior to January first, nineteen hundred and forty-two, or in any drainage thereafter approved by said department or the department of environmental protection; provided further, that before granting such new approval the commissioner of environmental protection shall have consulted with the director as to the value of the marine fisheries involved. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any such entrance or discharge of heated effluent authorized under the terms of a permit for such entrance or discharge issued pursuant to state or federal water pollution control laws.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 26 - Jurisdiction and Proceedings to Enforce Secs. 23 to 25

Section 26. The supreme judicial court or any justice thereof, and the superior court or any justice thereof, shall have jurisdiction in equity to enforce sections twenty-three, twenty-four and twenty-five. Proceedings to enforce the same may be instituted and prosecuted by the attorney general at the request of the commissioner.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 38b - Commercial Licenses; Catch Data; Transfers

Section 38B. All applicants issued a commercial fishermen permit for the taking of lobsters in coastal waters shall document their catch and sale of lobsters at such times and upon such forms as may be determined by the director. Individual catch data so documented shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed except in aggregate form. The director may develop such forms and require such information as he deems necessary in the administration of this section. All such forms shall be signed by the applicant under the pains and penalties of perjury. Failure to submit complete forms as required by this section or falsification of any such form or any application as required by this section may result in a fine of not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars and suspension of eligibility for issuance of a commercial permit for a period not to exceed three years. Any permit not renewed as required by this section by July first of each year may be subject to revocation by the division of marine fisheries.
Each year between December first and March first the director shall renew an existing commercial fishermen permit for the taking of lobsters in coastal waters held by any qualified person during the previous year. The director may renew permits to those individuals who have been previously engaged in commercial lobstering and can document that due to personal medical incapacity or other unforeseen circumstances, were unable to renew their commercial lobster permit during the prescribed renewal period. The marine fisheries advisory commission shall promulgate regulations establishing the criteria in which such renewals may take place.
Any commercial fishermen permit for the taking of lobsters in coastal waters may be transferred between members of an immediate family subject to the approval of the director. Permits may be transferred to other qualified applicants subject to regulations promulgated by the marine fisheries advisory commission. Said regulations shall set forth the specific criteria and process in which permits may be transferred and shall address the following concerns:—
(a) the maintenance and stability of a healthy lobster population;
(b) the economic viability of lobstering as a vocation and way of life;
(c) the needs of retiring lobstermen to sell or transfer their business interests;
The director may maintain a list of potential applicants for the transfer of said permits.
Upon the recommendation of the marine fisheries advisory commission, the secretary of the executive office of administration and finance shall set such fees as he deems appropriate to the administration of this section.
Any applicant for the transfer of any existing permit described in this section aggrieved by the decision of the director may appeal that decision to the commissioner whose decision upon appeal shall be final. The commissioner's decision, however, shall be governed by the criteria contained in this section.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 44 - Sale or Possession of Short Lobsters; Mutilation of Short Lobsters; Prima Facie Evidence

Section 44. Whoever sells, or offers for sale, or has in possession for a period longer than is necessary for immediate measuring, or for any purpose other than legally disposing of same, a lobster measuring in length less than the minimum size prescribed by this section, alive or dead, cooked or uncooked, measured from the rear of the eye socket along a line parallel to the center line of the body shell to the rear end of the body shell, shall be punished for the first offense by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars for every such lobster and for a subsequent offense by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars for every such lobster or by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than three months or both, and such lobster shall be seized and forfeited, and shall be disposed of by the director to the best interest of the commonwealth.
Beginning on January 1, 1989, the minimum size shall be 31/4 inches. Thereafter, the director may, by regulation approved by the marine fisheries advisory commission, increase the minimum size, and may establish different minimum sizes in separate geographic areas, if he determines that such increases are necessary to achieve compliance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Fisheries Management Plan for American lobster.
If the measurement of any such lobster taken from 1 or the other eye sockets is of the required length, such lobster shall be deemed to be a legal lobster. In all prosecutions under this section, any mutilation of any lobster which affects its measurement as aforesaid shall be prima facie evidence that the lobster was or is less than the required length; provided, however, that the director shall, by regulation approved by the marine fisheries advisory commission, allow the onshore processing in the commonwealth of live lobsters of legal length into shell-on lobster parts and the importation of shell-on lobster parts for processing by wholesale dealers that are licensed by the department of public health under section 77G of chapter 94. Processed shell-on lobster parts may be possessed, sold or offered for sale in the commonwealth by any wholesale dealer, retail dealer or food establishments and such food product may be possessed by a consumer. The processing, possession or sale of shell-on lobster tails pursuant to this section shall be limited to shell-on lobster tails weighing 3 ounces or more. The packaging of processed shell-on lobster parts, including tails, pursuant to this section as a food product shall be labeled in accordance with applicable federal and state laws and regulations. This section shall not apply to common carriers having lobster in possession for the purpose of transportation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 44a - V&ndash;notched Lobster

Section 44A. The director may, by regulation approved by the marine fisheries advisory commission and promulgated pursuant to chapter thirty A, establish a program to protect V–notched lobsters. For purposes of this section, the term ''V–notched lobster'' means a female egg-bearing lobster from which a V–shaped piece of tail has been cut from the first right flipper next to the middle flipper by a person holding or covered by a permit issued pursuant to section thirty-eight.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 44b - Limits on Sales of Lobsters Taken by Methods Other Than Pots or Traps

Section 44B. No commercial fishing vessel landing lobsters taken by any method other than by pots or traps shall land for the purpose of sale or distribution any lobsters or any part thereof at any location within the jurisdiction of the commonwealth in excess of one hundred lobsters for a fishing trip of one twenty-four hour day or less duration, with a maximum limit of five hundred lobsters within a period of seven consecutive days. The director, with approval of the marine fisheries advisory commission, shall promulgate rules to implement this section within ninety days of its effective date.
The director shall monitor the performance of vessels taking and landing lobsters in the commonwealth taken by other than pots and traps. If landings by vessels landing lobsters taken by other than by pots or traps exceed six percent of total lobster landings in any year, the director shall implement regulations, subject to the approval of said marine fisheries advisory commission, to limit lobster landings in subsequent years by vessels using other than pots or traps to no more than six percent of total lobster landings in the commonwealth.
The provisions of this section governing the landing of lobsters by vessels fishing with other than pots or traps, shall be superseded by the development or implementation subsequent to the effective date of this act of either a federal or interstate fishery management plan governing the taking or landing of lobsters under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 47 - Marking Barrels, Boxes or Containers of Lobsters or Lobster Meat

Section 47. All barrels, boxes or other containers containing lobsters, or lobster meat after the same has been taken from the shell, shall, before being delivered to any carrier, be marked by the shipper in a plain and legible manner on the outside thereof ''Lobsters'' or ''Lobster Meat'', as the case may be, in capital letters at least one inch in length, together with the full name and address of the shipper, and, in the case of such lobster meat, also with the words, ''removed under permit No. '', followed by the number of the permit under which the same was taken from the shell; and, unless in barrels, boxes or other containers so marked, no lobster or lobster meat shall be transported. Any such barrels, boxes or other containers delivered to or transported by any carrier without being marked as above required, and the lobsters or lobster meat therein, shall be seized and forfeited. This section and section forty-nine shall not apply to lobsters or lobster meat passing through the commonwealth under authority of the laws of the United States.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 48 - Disposal of Lobsters or Lobster Meat Seized in Unmarked Containers

Section 48. In case of seizure by any duly authorized officer of any lobsters or lobster meat contained in any barrel, box or other container which is not marked as provided in section forty-seven, or of any lobster measuring less than the length prescribed by section forty-four, such lobsters as are alive and measure less than such prescribed length shall be liberated by the director, and all other such lobsters and all such lobster meat found in such barrel, box or other container shall be held and disposed of as provided in section fifty.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 49 - Liability of Carrier of Unmarked Containers of Lobsters or Lobster Meat

Section 49. No carrier shall knowingly receive or carry from place to place any lobster or lobster meat in barrels, boxes or other containers not marked as provided in section 47.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 50 - Forfeiture or Liberation of Seized Lobsters or Lobster Meat

Section 50. When any lobster or lobster meat is seized for the violation of any provision of section forty-seven, the officer making the seizure shall immediately notify the shipper thereof, if known, and shall proceed to enforce the forfeiture of such lobsters as he is not required to liberate, or of such lobster meat, in accordance with section twelve.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 51 - Sale of Native Lobsters; Representations for Purposes of Sale

Section 51. No person shall sell, or represent for the purpose of sale, any lobster as a native lobster unless the same shall have been originally caught or taken in the coastal waters; nor shall any person so sell, or represent for the purpose of sale, any crustacean as a lobster unless the same is of the species known as Homarus americanus; nor shall any person so sell, or represent for the purpose of sale, any meat as lobster meat unless such meat is wholly from crustaceans of such species.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 51a - Sale of Crabmeat; Representations for Purposes of Sale

Section 51A. No retail establishment or person shall sell or represent for the purpose of sale, any item as crabmeat unless the same is from crustaceans of any species of crab, so-called. A retail establishment or person selling a product which contains crabmeat in any proportion shall list separately the names and percentages of all noncrabmeat substances contained therein.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 53 - Form of Permits; Record of Issuance

Section 53. All permits issued under section fifty-two shall be issued in the name of the body authorizing the issuing of the same; but, under a vote of such body, any such permit shall be valid if issued bearing the signature of any one member thereof, or of the city or town clerk. A record of the name, residence and address of every person to whom such a permit is issued, with any special details relating to such permit, shall be entered by the officer issuing the same in a book kept in his office for that purpose.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 54 - Cultivation, Propagation and Protection of Shellfish; Appropriations by Cities and Towns; Close Seasons

Section 54. Cities by a vote of the board of aldermen, or city council, and towns by a vote at a town meeting, may appropriate money for the cultivation, propagation and protection of shellfish. The board of aldermen, or city council, or selectmen when so authorized by their town may from time to time declare a close season for any or all kinds of shellfish for not more than three years in such waters, flats or creeks, not then the subject of a private grant, within the limits of their respective cities and towns, as they deem proper, and may plant, grow and protect shellfish in such waters, flats or creeks; provided, that no private rights are impaired; and provided, further, that when any close season, declared as aforesaid, shall have ended, such flats, waters or creeks shall not within two years thereafter be licensed for the private cultivation of shellfish.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 55 - Aliens; Shellfish Taken for Commercial Purposes; Permits

Section 55. No permit for the taking of shellfish for commercial purposes, except in the city of New Bedford, shall be issued by the aldermen or councilmen of any city or the selectmen of any town to an alien unless he has resided in such city or town for at least five years next preceding the date of his application therefor, or has been a resident of the county in which such city or town lies for at least five years next preceding the date of such application and has taken shellfish commercially therefrom for such period.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 56 - Joint Control by Municipalities of Marine Fisheries

Section 56. Whenever under the authority of any law two or more municipalities have joint property in, or the right of joint control of, any marine fisheries referred to in section fifty-two, the board of aldermen or city council of the city, or the selectmen of the town if so authorized by the town, in which such fisheries lie may exclusively exercise all the rights, privileges and authority conferred by said section with respect to such fisheries, make appropriations therefor as provided in section fifty-four and exercise such other control, privileges and responsibilities as are granted in other sections of this chapter pertinent thereto, as though such joint control or property did not exist; provided that in the exercise of such rights, privileges, responsibilities and authority such board of aldermen, city council or selectmen shall grant to the citizens of such other municipalities the same rights and privileges as are granted to the citizens of their city or town.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 58 - Transfer or Renewal of Licenses

Section 58. Any license granted under section fifty-seven or corresponding provisions of earlier laws may be transferred with the approval of the city council or selectmen to any person to whom it might originally have been granted, and, whether or not so transferred, may, within two years before the expiration of its then current term, be renewed from the expiration of the original term for a further term or terms, each term not to exceed fifteen years. The provisions of this chapter or of corresponding provisions of earlier laws applicable to the original issuance of such license shall, so far as apt, apply to a transfer or a renewal thereof hereunder.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 59 - Application for License; Request for Survey and Plan

Section 59. Any person, firm or corporation qualified as provided in section fifty-seven and desiring to obtain a license thereunder shall present to the city council or selectmen a written application setting forth the name and residence of the applicant, a definite description made by reference to a survey conducted by the applicant, and a request that such license be granted to the applicant.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 60 - Hearing on Issuance of License; Notice; Publication

Section 60. No license referred to in section fifty-seven shall be granted, transferred or renewed until after a public hearing, due notice of which has been posted in three or more public places, and published in a newspaper, if any, published in the city or town where the territory described in the application is situated at least ten days before the time fixed for the hearing, stating the name and residence of the applicant or transferee, as the case may be, the date of the filing of the application for such license, transfer or renewal, and the location, area and description of said territory.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 61 - Marking of Territory Covered by License; Maintenance of Markings

Section 61. The licensee upon receiving his license shall cause the territory covered thereby to be plainly marked out by monuments, marks or ranges and by stakes or buoys, with the number of his license painted in figures at least two inches in height in a conspicuous place on each of said stakes or buoys or on flags attached thereto, which shall be maintained by him or his transferee during the term of the license or of any renewal thereof. Failure to place or reasonably to maintain the same shall be sufficient cause for revocation of the license.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 62 - Records of Licensed Areas, Licenses Granted, Transfers and Renewals

Section 62. The aldermen, city council or selectmen shall keep in their offices plans showing all such licensed areas, and, in a book devoted to that purpose only, a record of each license granted and of all transfers or renewals thereof, which shall include the name and residence of the licensee or transferee, the dates of issue, transfer, renewal and expiration thereof, and a copy of the description of the licensed areas as the same appears in the license. Each license, and all transfers or renewals thereof, shall forthwith after the granting or approval thereof be transmitted by the board so granting or approving the same to the city or town clerk, who shall record the same in a book kept especially therefor in his office. The licensee or transferee shall within thirty days after such issue or approval pay to said clerk for each license or renewal issued or transfer approved one dollar for such recording, and for each license issued shall also pay four dollars as reimbursement of said city or town for the cost incurred in granting said license, a record of which payment shall forthwith be entered upon said record by said clerk, and such license, transfer or renewal shall not take effect until said fees are paid and entry thereof made as aforesaid. Said records shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable times. Forms for such license and for the transfer or renewal of the same shall be provided by the aldermen, city council or selectmen at the expense of their city or town.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries › Section 63 - Exclusive Rights of Licensees or Transferees; Trespass on Licensed Area; Treble Damages

Section 63. The licensee or transferee, or his legal representatives, shall, for the purposes set forth in section fifty-seven and in accord with the terms set forth in said license, have during the term of the license or of any renewal thereof the exclusive use of the waters, flats or creeks described in the license, and the exclusive right to take all shellfish therefrom during the time therein specified, notwithstanding any regulations made by the aldermen, city council or selectmen of the city or town, subsequent to the issuance of such license or to the renewal thereof, as the case may be; provided, that this section shall not be construed to authorize any taking prohibited by law. The licensee or transferee, or his legal representatives, may in tort recover treble damages of any person who without his or their consent, unless otherwise authorized by law or by lawful regulation so to do, digs or takes shellfish of any kind, or shells, from such waters, flats or creeks, or disturbs the same thereon, during the continuance of the license or of any renewal thereof.