Massachusetts General Laws
Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation
Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries

Section 2 - Transferability of Licenses, Permits and Certificates of Registration; Suspension or Voidance for Violation of Marine Laws; Surrender; Impounding Fishing Gear - Section 2. Licenses, permits and certificates of registration issued by...

Section 3 - Duplicate License, Permit, or Certificate - Section 3. Whoever loses or by mistake or accident destroys...

Section 4 - Record of Licenses, Permits or Certificates; Inspection; Endorsement of Date of Sale on License, Permits and Certificates - Section 4. The director or his agent shall make a...

Section 4a - Administrative Inspections - Section 4A. The director, his assistants, an environmental police officer...

Section 5 - Jurisdictional Boundaries - Section 5. The director and the director of the division...

Section 8a - Powers of Police Officers - Section 8A. In a city or town bordering on coastal...

Section 9 - Searches, Seizures and Arrests Without Warrant - Section 9. The director, the deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs...

Section 10 - Issuance of Search Warrant - Section 10. A court or official authorized to issue warrants...

Section 12 - Seizure and Forfeiture of Fish Unlawfully Taken, Boats and Apparatus; Sale; Proceeds - Section 12. All fish unlawfully taken, held, possessed or dealt...

Section 13 - Display of Fish Upon Demand; Violations - Section 13. The director, the deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs...

Section 14 - Limitation of Actions and Prosecutions - Section 14. Actions and prosecutions under the laws relative to...

Section 15a - Reciprocal Enforcement of Laws Relating to Marine Fisheries - Section 15A. Any game protector, fish and game warden, coastal...

Section 16 - Occupation of Tide Waters or Work Done Therein Subject to Chapter 91 - Section 16. Any occupation under this chapter of tide waters...

Section 17 - Powers of Director - Section 17. The director may (1) Destroy from time to...

Section 17a - Management of Marine Fisheries - Section 17A. Upon petition signed by any interested party or...

Section 17b - Aquacultural Enterprises; Permits - Section 17B. Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, the director...

Section 17c - Recreational Saltwater Fishing Permit Program; Finfishing; For-Hire Fishing; Categories; Marine Recreational Fisheries Development Panel - Section 17C. (a) The director shall establish a state recreational...

Section 17d - Penalties for Violation of Sec. 17c - Section 17D. Whoever violates section 17C, or any rule or...

Section 18 - Illegal Entry on Property Maintained for Experiments, Protection or Propagation of Fish - Section 18. No person shall, without right, enter in or...

Section 19 - Providing Passage for Salt Water Fish Into Fresh Water to Spawn; Refusal or Neglect to Repair or Construct Fishway; Operation and Maintenance of Fishways - Section 19. For the purpose of providing suitable passage for...

Section 20 - Increase in Supply of Shellfish; Co-Operation With Coastal Cities and Towns; Treatment or Purification of Shellfish - Section 20. The director shall assist and co-operate with coastal...

Section 20a - Propagation of Shellfish; Co-Operation With Coastal Cities and Towns - Section 20A. The director shall assist and cooperate with coastal...

Section 21 - Compilation of Statistical Information Useful to Marine Fish Industries; Confidentiality; False Reports; Refusal or Failure - Section 21. The director shall devise a system of statistical...

Section 23 - Discharge of Oil or Other Poisonous Substances Into Coastal Waters; Use of Explosives; Penalty - Section 23. Except in the case of emergency imperiling life...

Section 24 - Violation of Sec. 23; Tort Liability - Section 24. Whoever, contrary to any provision of section twenty-three,...

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,...

Section 26 - Jurisdiction and Proceedings to Enforce Secs. 23 to 25 - Section 26. The supreme judicial court or any justice thereof,...

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,...

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...

Section 29 - Construction of Weir, Pound Net or Fish Trap - Section 29. The aldermen or city council of a city...

Section 30 - Marking of Weir, Pound Net or Fish Trap With Number of Approval - Section 30. Any person who constructs or maintains any weir,...

Section 31 - Destruction or Injury to Weir, Pound Net or Fish Trap - Section 31. No person shall, without the consent of the...

Section 32 - Fishing Gear Swept Ashore by Natural Causes; Recovery - Section 32. The owner of any fishing gear mentioned in...

Section 33 - Reports of Owners of Boats and Fishing Gear; Marking of Fish Cars - Section 33. The owner of every boat, and the owner...

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...

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...

Section 36 - Closing Portions of Streams Flowing Into Coastal Waters During Spawning Season - Section 36. For the purpose of protecting smelt and their...

Section 37 - Lobsters and Crabs; Licenses - Section 37. No person, either as principal, agent or employee,...

Section 37a - Green Crabs - Section 37A. Any person may take green crabs, more specifically...

Section 38 - Licenses; Application; Fee; Eligibility; Markings of Buoys; Exhibition of License - Section 38. A person shall not fish for or take...

Section 38a - Display of License Number and Buoy Colors - Section 38A. No person or persons shall take or attempt...

Section 38b - Commercial Licenses; Catch Data; Transfers - Section 38B. All applicants issued a commercial fishermen permit for...

Section 39 - Hours for Tending, Lifting or Drawing Lobster or Crab Pots or Traps - Section 39. No person shall tend, lift, raise or draw...

Section 41 - Taking or Selling Female Lobsters Bearing Eggs - Section 41. Any person who takes, sells or has in...

Section 41a - Taking of Female Egg-Bearing Lobsters While Fishing or Landing - Section 41A. Any person who takes, sells or has in...

Section 42 - Plants for Propagation of Lobsters; Establishment and Maintenance - Section 42. The director shall, to the extent of appropriation...

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...

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...

Section 44a - V–notched Lobster - Section 44A. The director may, by regulation approved by the...

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...

Section 47 - Marking Barrels, Boxes or Containers of Lobsters or Lobster Meat - Section 47. All barrels, boxes or other containers containing lobsters,...

Section 48 - Disposal of Lobsters or Lobster Meat Seized in Unmarked Containers - Section 48. In case of seizure by any duly authorized...

Section 49 - Liability of Carrier of Unmarked Containers of Lobsters or Lobster Meat - Section 49. No carrier shall knowingly receive or carry from...

Section 50 - Forfeiture or Liberation of Seized Lobsters or Lobster Meat - Section 50. When any lobster or lobster meat is seized...

Section 51 - Sale of Native Lobsters; Representations for Purposes of Sale - Section 51. No person shall sell, or represent for the...

Section 51a - Sale of Crabmeat; Representations for Purposes of Sale - Section 51A. No retail establishment or person shall sell or...

Section 52 - Taking of Eels, Shellfish and Sea Worms; Areas in Which Commercial Taking Prohibited - Section 52. The selectmen of a town bordering upon coastal...

Section 53 - Form of Permits; Record of Issuance - Section 53. All permits issued under section fifty-two shall be...

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...

Section 55 - Aliens; Shellfish Taken for Commercial Purposes; Permits - Section 55. No permit for the taking of shellfish for...

Section 56 - Joint Control by Municipalities of Marine Fisheries - Section 56. Whenever under the authority of any law two...

Section 57 - Shellfish Aquaculture Licenses - Section 57. The city council or mayor of any city,...

Section 58 - Transfer or Renewal of Licenses - Section 58. Any license granted under section fifty-seven or corresponding...

Section 59 - Application for License; Request for Survey and Plan - Section 59. Any person, firm or corporation qualified as provided...

Section 60 - Hearing on Issuance of License; Notice; Publication - Section 60. No license referred to in section fifty-seven shall...

Section 61 - Marking of Territory Covered by License; Maintenance of Markings - Section 61. The licensee upon receiving his license shall cause...

Section 62 - Records of Licensed Areas, Licenses Granted, Transfers and Renewals - Section 62. The aldermen, city council or selectmen shall keep...

Section 63 - Exclusive Rights of Licensees or Transferees; Trespass on Licensed Area; Treble Damages - Section 63. The licensee or transferee, or his legal representatives,...

Section 64 - Annual Fee for License - Section 64. Every such licensee or transferee shall pay to...

Section 65 - Annual Report of Shellfish Planted, Produced and Marketed; Estimate of Growing Shellfish; Forfeiture for Deficiency - Section 65. Every licensee or transferee of a license referred...

Section 66 - Destruction or Removal of Marks or Bounds; Double Damages - Section 66. No person shall willfully injure, deface, destroy or...

Section 67 - Taking or Disturbing Shellfish From Licensed Grounds or Beds Without Consent - Section 67. No person shall, without the consent of the...

Section 68 - Digging, Taking or Carrying Away Shellfish From Licensed Waters, Flats or Creeks at Night - Section 68. No person shall dig, take or carry away...

Section 69 - Seed Quahaugs, Clams or Oysters; Taking or Possession - Section 69. Whoever takes or has in his possession quahaugs...

Section 70 - Taking and Sale of Scallops; Adult and Seed Scallops; Culling - Section 70. No person shall take from the flats or...

Section 71 - Close Season on Scallops - Section 71. Except as provided in sections seventy and seventy-three,...

Section 72 - Limitation on Catch of Scallops - Section 72. No person shall for any purpose take more...

Section 73 - Granting Modification in Respect to Close Season and Number of Scallops That May Be Taken; Petition; Investigation - Section 73. The provisions of sections seventy-one and seventy-two in...

Section 74 - Determination of Contaminated Areas; Notice of Results - Section 74. The division of marine fisheries shall examine from...

Section 74a - Emergency Designation of Contaminated Shellfish Areas; Enforcement; Notice to Local Authorities - Section 74A. Both the department of public health and the...

Section 75 - Shellfish From Contaminated Areas, Permits, Purification; Shellfish Conservation - Section 75. The director may grant, and may revoke, written...

Section 76 - Construction and Operation of Shellfish Purification Plants; Powers of Commissioner - Section 76. The director of the division of marine fisheries...

Section 77 - Cost of Operation - Section 77. For the purpose of partially defraying the costs...

Section 80 - Commercial Permits and Certificates; Issuance; Transfers; Wholesale Dealer Permit; Regulated Marine Fishery Permit; Rules and Regulations; Cancellation; Revocation; Penalties - Section 80. Except as permitted in sections thirty-eight and seventy-five,...

Section 81 - Importation of Shellfish for Consumption; Certification; Labeling of Containers - Section 81. No person shall transport, or cause to be...

Section 82 - Source of Supply of Shellfish; Tags or Labels; Contents; Record of Markings on Tags or Labels; Inspection - Section 82. No wholesale or retail dealer in shellfish, and...

Section 83 - Permit Fees; Types of Permits - Section 83. For the purposes of defraying the costs of...

Section 92 - Sale of Scallops; Soaked Scallops; Scallops Not in Shell; Marking of Containers; Common Carriers - Section 92. No person shall sell, exchange, transport or deliver...

Section 93 - Opening Ditches or Canals for Fisheries for Propagation of Herring, Alewives and Other Food Fish; Acquisition of Land and Waters; Regulation and Leasing of Fisheries - Section 93. A town may open ditches, sluiceways or canals...

Section 94 - Petition by City and Town to Control and Regulate Public Fisheries for Alewives; Regulation and Lease of Fisheries - Section 94. The board of aldermen or the city council...

Section 95 - Taking Fish From Fisheries Without Permission - Section 95. No person shall take, kill, haul onshore, disturb,...

Section 96 - Impairment of Private Property Rights; Contracts; Leasing at Public Auction - Section 96. Sections ninety-three, ninety-four and ninety-five shall not impair...

Section 98 - Shellfish Constables; Appointment; Powers and Duties; Notice of Appointment - Section 98. In each city and town bordering on coastal...

Section 100a - Striped Bass; Regulations - Section 100A. The director, with the approval of the marine...

Section 100b - Taking Striped Bass; Methods; Traps - Section 100B. No person shall take, or attempt to take,...

Section 100c - Shad; Methods of Taking - Section 100C. No person shall take, or attempt to take,...

Section 100d - Eels; Methods of Taking - Section 100D. No person shall take or attempt to take...

Section 101a - Gray Seal; Protection - Section 101A. No person shall wilfully detain, hunt, kill or...

Section 102 - Marine Plants; Regulation of Taking - Section 102. No person shall harvest for sale or engage...

Section 104 - Effect on Special Statutes Relating to Fisheries in Particular Places - Section 104. This chapter shall not be deemed to affect...

Section 105 - Protection of Coastal Wetlands - Section 105. The commissioner of environmental protection may from time...

Section 106 - Possessing, Selling, Offering for Sale, Trading or Distributing of Shark Fins Prohibited; Exceptions; Penalty for Violation - Section 106. (a) Except as provided in this section, no...

Section 1c - Division of Marine Fisheries Shellfish Advisory Panel - [ Text of section added by 2021, 24, Sec. 52...

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Massachusetts General Laws Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries

Massachusetts General Laws
Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation
Chapter 130 - Marine Fish and Fisheries