300 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Massachusetts. — In Massachusetts the mayor and selectmen of each 

 maritime locality may grant a written permit, to any inhabitant of the 

 place, to plant oysters and to cultivate them, at any time during the 

 year, in the waters of their district, provided the natural banks are re- 

 spected. This permit, which is good for twenty years, indicates exactly 

 the limits and character of the ground, and must be registered by the 

 county clerk before it can be used. The magistrate who has granted it 

 receives $2 as his fee, and the clerk 50 cents. This proceeding insures 

 to the planter, and to his heirs in case of his death, the right to the ground 

 conceded, and he can prosecute any one who trespasses upon it j while 

 the offender is also punished by the law with a fine of $20 for each 

 trespass. 



Rhode Island. — In the Providence Eiyer the commissioners of the 

 shell-fisheries can, upon their own responsibility, rent, for the good of 

 the State, to any citizen of the State, any ground covered by water 

 where there are no natural banks, for the establishment of plantations. 

 These grants, given for five years, have a tax imposed upon them which 

 is to be paid into the general treasury of the State. 



When a citizen applies for a permit, the commissioners, before grant- 

 ing it, must give public notice of the day, the hour, and the place where 

 the matter will be arranged. This notice, containing an exact descrip- 

 tion of the ground solicited, is published, at the expense of the solicitor, 

 in one of the daily papers of Providence, at least two weeks before the 

 day of settlement, in order that the transaction may be generally known, 

 and the citizens have an opportunity of bringing before the commis- 

 sioners any objections they may have to the issuing of the permit. 



In no case can more than one acre be assigned to any one person, and 

 only one acre a head to members of a company. The ground granted for 

 the formation of oyster-beds cannot be rerented during the continuation 

 of the grant. 



A double copy is made of the lease, one for the solicitor, the other for 

 the general treasurer, and if the commissioners consider it worth while, 

 before signing it, a sketch may be made of the reservation granted. 



The boundaries of plantations thus assigned must be determined 

 exactly by landmarks on the adjacent shore, and by poles or boughs 

 placed about eleven yards from each other, in the water; being so ar- 

 ranged as not to interfere with navigation. The landmarks, and poles 

 or boughs, are renewed whenever the commissioners consider it neces- 

 sary, and these officers of the government are also authorized to appoint 

 a special guard, provided with a boat, for the protection of the planta- 

 tions of Providence Iiiver known under the name of the Great Bed. 



When the conditions specified in the leases are not complied with, or 

 when the rent is not paid regularly, the grant may be revoked. 



The regulations forbid the taking of oysters upon the plantations 

 before the rising and after the setting of the sun, under a penalty of 

 $20 and the confiscation of the boat. 



