6 LAWS RELATING TO 



And for every barrel of herring at any time caught by nets on the 

 said Cape Cod shoar, six pence per barrel be paid by any inhabitant 

 that shall so take them, and twelve pence per barrel by strangers. 



And whosoever shall take any basse on the aforesaid shoar with 

 nets, shall pa}' to the Colonie's use six pence per quintal, according 

 to a former order, and to be paid also in mone}'. 



Sect. 5. And it is ordered, &c., That if any swine, belonging 

 either to English or Indians, do there annoy or trespass such as there 

 fish as abovesaid in the mackerel seasons, it shall be lawful for an}' 

 to make seizure of such swine, paying one-half of the value of such 

 swine to the said baily or his deputy for the Colonie's use. * * 



ANCIENT CHARTERS. 



(Page 113, ch. 46.) Sect. 5. This court being informed that the 

 taking of mackrel at unseasonable times do greatly diminish their 

 increase, and will in the issue tend to the spoil of the trade thereof: 



Do order and enact, That henceforth no mackerel shall be caught, 

 except for spending whilst fresh, before the first of July annually, on 

 penalty of the loss of the same, the one half to the informer, and the 

 other half to the use of the country. And any magistrate or county 

 court is empowered to act herein, to all intents and purposes, for the 

 execution of this law. 



[Repealed March 5, 1693. Page 254, sect. 7, A. Charters. Revived Massachusetts 

 Perpetual Laws, page 1-13, ch. v., 1702.] 



(Page 148, ch. 63.) wSect. 2. Every inhabitant who is an house- 

 holder shall have free fishing and fowling in any great ponds, bays, 

 coves and rivers, so far as the sea ebbs and flows within the precincts 

 of the town where they dwell, unless the freemen of the same town or 

 the General Court have otherwise appropriated them. 



Provided, That no town shall appropriate to any particular person 

 or persons, any great pond containing more than ten acres of land, 

 and that no man shall come upon another's propriety without their 

 leave, otherwise than as hereafter expressed. 



The which clearly to determine : 



Sect. 3. It is declared that in all creeks, coves, and other places 

 about and upon salt water, where the sea ebbs and flows, the pro- 

 prietor, or the land adjoining, shall have propriety to the low water 

 mark, where the sea doeth not ebb above a hundred rods, and not 

 more wheresoever it ebbs further. 



Provided, That such proprietor shall not by this liberty have power 

 to stop or hinder the passage of boats or other vessels, in or through 

 any sea, creeks or coves, to other men's houses or lands. 



Sect. 4. And for great ponds lying in common, though within the 

 bounds of some town, it shall be free for any man to fish and fowl 



