INLAND FISHERIES. 309 



[Sp. Laws, vol. 1, p. 272 ; 1866, 238.] 

 An Act to regulate Fishing in Merrimaclv River, and for other purposes. 



1867, 289. Be it enacted, etc., as follows: Sect. 1. No person 

 shall fish with a seine in Merrimack River, nor in any manner take or 

 catch shad, salmon or alewives in said river, until the fifteenth day of 

 April, in the year eighteen hundred and sevent^'-one, under penalty 

 of the forfeiture of the seine and five dollars for each shad or alewife 

 and fifty dollars for every salmon taken : provided, that the fish com- 

 missioners shall be allowed from time to time to take such fish as may 

 be required to re-stock the Merrimack or any other river. 



Sect. 2. No person shall fish within four hundred yards of any 

 fish-way on Merrimack River, nor trespass within the limits of the 

 same, under a penaltj^ of fift\' dollars. 



Sect. 3. The fish commissioners are hereby empowered to cause 

 any tributaries of the Merrimack River to be opened to the passage 

 of shad, salmon and alewives, by directing the proprietors of dams in 

 such tributaries to build suitable fish-wa^s over their dams. 



Sect. 4. The mayor and aldermen of any city and the selectmen 

 of any town bordering on the Merrimack River shall appoint one or 

 more suitable fish-wardens and fix their compensation, to see to the 

 execution of the provisions of the first and second sections of this 

 act.— [May 31. 1867. 



[1869, 422; P. S. 91, ^ 4-7, 35, 42.] 



An Act to regulate Fisheries. 



1867, 344. Be it enacted, etc., as follows: Sect. 1. The commis- 

 sioners of fisheries appointed under chapter two hundred and thirty- 

 eight of the acts of the ^ear eighteen hundred and sixty-six, in addi- 

 tion to their powers and duties under said act, are hereby authorized 

 to examine all the dams upon rivers in this Commonwealth over and 

 around which the proprietors are now required by law to keep and 

 maintain fish-ways, and said commissioners shall determine whether 

 said fish-ways are suitable and sufficient for the passage of such fish 

 as are found in said rivers ; and if, after inspection, the said commis- 

 sioners shall find said fish- wa3-s are unsuitable, or insufficient for the 

 passage of fish, or are out of repair, or are not kept open at suitable 

 times, the}' shall give notice to the proprietors of said dams of any 

 defect in their fish-wa3's, or that the fish-ways are not kept open tlae 

 proper time. And said commissioners shall further, in writing, pre- 

 scribe the times for keeping open and unobstructed said fish-ways, 

 and what repairs may be necessary, and what changes, if any, should 

 be made for improving said fish-ways. 



Sect. 2. Anj' person or corporation who shall neglect or refuse 

 to keep open or maintain any fish-way at the times prescribed by the 



