No person shall have in his possession any escallops other than adult escallops. For the purpose of this section, an adult escallop is defined as an escallop having a well-defined growth line. All seed escallops taken shall be immediately returned alive to waters having a depth of at least three feet at mean low tide, except that the selectmen of any town bordering on Long Island Sound may, on application, authorize such escallops to be removed and transplanted in waters along the sound. No person shall take any escallops from the first day of April to the first day of October or from sunset to sunrise, except that in the waters of Little Narragansett Bay no person shall take any escallops from the first day of April to the fifteenth day of September or from sunset to sunrise. No person shall use any rake, dredge, drag or other device which may be drawn along the surface of the bottom, except a device such as a scoop net which is attached to a pole and has an opening not more than sixteen inches wide and is used manually by the person engaged in taking escallops. No person shall open and return to the water the shell and entrails of any escallops after the eye or muscle has been removed, nor shall any starfish taken from the waters be returned thereto. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined not more than two hundred fifty dollars.
(1949 Rev., S. 5092; September, 1950, S. 2566d; 1957, P.A. 32; P.A. 99-169, S. 5, 7; P.A. 12-80, S. 42.)
History: P.A. 99-169 deleted a restriction on nonresidents' ability to take escallops from waters of this state, effective June 23, 1999; P.A. 12-80 replaced penalty of a fine of not more than $50 or imprisonment of not more than 60 days or both with a fine of not more than $250.
Structure Connecticut General Statutes
Chapter 492 - Local Shellfisheries
Section 26-238. - Town oyster ground committee.
Section 26-239. - Certain grants of oyster, clam and mussel grounds valid.
Section 26-240. - Town ground; designation; designation requirements and prohibitions; hearing.
Section 26-241. - Name of owner to appear on stakes, buoys and markers. Buoy specifications.
Section 26-242. - Granting of designation; condition precedent.
Section 26-243. - Evidence of designation to be recorded.
Section 26-244. - Lost title; redesignation. Penalty.
Section 26-245. - Fees of shellfish commissions.
Section 26-246. - Designation of disputed lines in local jurisdiction.
Section 26-247. - Removal of beds improperly staked.
Section 26-248. - Procedure to dam creek or inlet.
Section 26-249. - Private ownership in cultivated shellfish.
Section 26-250. - Taxation of town ground.
Section 26-251. - Natural clam beds not to be designated.
Section 26-252. - Taking of hard or round clams; size.
Section 26-253. - Trespass on designated ground.
Section 26-256. - Injury to pond gates and dams.
Section 26-257. - Local shellfish grounds under state control.
Section 26-257a. - Local shellfish commissions.
Section 26-258. - Location of local natural clam or oyster beds.
Section 26-259. - Maps to be lodged in town clerk's office.
Section 26-260. - Selectmen of Milford and West Haven may prohibit the taking of clams.
Section 26-261. - Taking of clams from Oyster River in West Haven and Milford.
Section 26-262. - Taking of oysters from natural ground in Milford.
Section 26-266. - Shellfisheries in Branford. Grants. Requirements and prohibitions of grants.
Section 26-276. - Hammonasset River; limitation.
Section 26-277. - Clinton and Madison; special constables.
Section 26-278. - Jurisdiction of special constables.
Section 26-279. - Madison; town rights.
Section 26-280. - Taking of shellfish at Saugatuck Shores in Westport.
Section 26-284. - Thames River oysters; limitation.
Section 26-285. - Taking of oysters and clams in Old Lyme regulated.
Section 26-286. - Taking oysters from the inland waters of East Lyme and Waterford.
Section 26-287. - Waterford-East Lyme shellfish commission. Taking of shellfish from Niantic River.
Section 26-289. - Dredging for escallops in Little Narragansett Bay or Stonington Harbor.
Section 26-290. - Taking of escallops in Groton.
Section 26-291. - Taking of oysters and clams in Stonington.
Section 26-291a. - Taking of clams and oysters in Stonington.
Section 26-292. - Taking of escallops in the waters of Stonington.
Section 26-292b. - Hand-harvesting horseshoe crabs in the town of Stratford. Prohibition. Violation.
Section 26-292c. - Recommendations for horseshoe crab taking restricted areas.