INLAND FISHERIES. 51 



curred by any breach of this act shall and may be sued for and 

 recovered, by action of debt or information, before any justice of the 

 peace within the county of Hampshire ; one half of such fines shall 

 enure to him or them who shall sue or prosecute for the same, and 

 the other half to the poor of the town where the offence shall be 

 committed. — [March 8, 1792. 



[1813, 147; 1826, 100; 1838, 19; 1844, 65; 1853, 377.] 



An Act in addition to an Act passed February the twenty-second, one thousand seven 

 hundred and ninety, entitled " An Act to prevent the Destruction of the Fish called 

 Alewives in Taunton Great River (so called), in the county of Bristol, and to regulate 

 the Catching of said Fish therein for the future." 



Sp. Laws, vol. 1, p. 354. Whereas the provision made in the said 

 act for preventing the destruction of the said fish has been found 

 insufficient for that purpose : 



Sect. 1. Be it enacted^ That from and after the publication of this 

 act, it shall not be lawful for an}- person, with scoop-nets or any other 

 instruments, nor at any other time or place than is allowed by said 

 act, to molest, hinder or take said fish, on the penalties made and 

 provided in said act. 



Sect. 2. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the 

 persons chosen by the towns on said river, to enforce said act ; to 

 remove or cause to be removed all hinderances and obstructions in 

 said river ; and to prevent all unlawful catching of said fish as afore- 

 said, in their towns respectively, on the penalties made and provided 

 in and by said act. — [March 8, 1792. 



[Sp. Laws, vol. 1, p. 422.] 



An Act regulating the taking of the Fish called Alewives, in the several Streams empty- 

 ing into the Merrimack River, in the Town of Andover. 



Sp. Laws, vol, 1, p. 365. Sect. 1. Be it enacted, That it shall 

 and may be lawful for the inhabitants of said town of Andover, from 

 time to time, at their annual meeting in the month of March or April, 

 to determine and order, by whom, and in what place or places, 'the 

 said fish may be taken in the several streams emptying into Merri- 

 mack River within the town aforesaid ; and shall cause a cop}^ of 

 such order, attested by the town clerk of said town, to be posted 

 up in some public place in said town, and in the town of Methuen ; 

 and any person who shall violate such order, upon conviction thereof, 

 shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding twenty shillings, nor less 

 than ten shillings : provided, the quantity so taken is less than one 

 barrel ; but for every barrel so taken, they shall forfeit and pay tlie 

 sum of forty shillings, to be recovered before an}^ justice of the 

 peace in the county of Essex before whom the complaint shall be 

 made, one moiety to the informer, the other moiety to the po(jr of 

 said town. 



