INLAND FISHERIES. 29 



the neighbouring towns therewith, the person so appointed to conform 

 to the rules established l\v the said committee, respecting the time 

 and place of taking the said fish, and to be allowed by the said justice, 

 from the sale of the fish he shall so take, a reasonable sum for his 

 time and trouble ; and if any overplus remain after being paid as 

 aforesaid, the same shall be by him paid to the treasurer of the town 

 of Wellfleet. 



Sect. 7. Be it further enacted, That all fines and forfeitures in- 

 curred b}' any breach of this act, may be sued for and recovered before 

 an}' justice of the peace in the said county of Barnstable ; and all fines 

 recovered for any breach of this act, shall enure, one moiety thereof 

 to the said town of Wellfleet, and the other moiety thereof to him 

 or them that shall sue for and recover the same. And no person, 

 by reason of his being one of the said committee or an inhabitant 

 of the town of Wellfleet, shall thereby be disqualified from being 

 a witness in any prosecution for a breach of this act. — [June 19, 

 1788. , 



[Repealed 1836, 56.] 



1789. 



An Act to prevent the Destruction of Fish called Shad and Alewives, in Mystic River, so 

 called, within the towns of Cambridge, Charlestown and Medford, and for repealing 

 all laws heretofore made for that purpose.* 



[An Act for continuing this Act and including Woburn and Maiden, Feb 27, 1794, 

 Separate provision for Medford, Feb. 11, 1803.] 



Sp. Laws, vol. 1, p. 238. Whereas the fishery in Mystic River, 

 in the county of Middlesex, if properlj^ regulated, will be of great 

 public utility, as it serves to promote the cod fishery, and is also of 

 advantage to the particular towns through which the river runs, afford- 

 ing, in some measure, subsistence and support to the inhabitants 

 thereof, and it is, therefore, necessary to be preserved : 



Sect. 1. Be it enacted, That the inhabitants of the towns of 

 Cambridge, Charlestown and Medford, respectively, at a town meet- 

 ing, to be held in the months of March or April, annually, at the 

 time of choosing other town officers in their respective towns, be and 

 they hereby are authorized and directed, to choose, for each of said 

 towns, three suitable persons, in their respective towns, as a " Com- 

 mittee for the preservation of Fish," who shall be sworn to the faith- 

 ful discharge of their duty ; and the said committee, or the major part 

 of them, in their own town, shall have full power and authority to 

 cause the natural course of the said river, and the streams running 

 into it, to be kept open and without obstruction, and to remove all 

 such obstructions, as may be found therein ; and to make the passage- 

 way wider or deeper, if they shall find it necessary. And the said 



* Limited to five vears. 



