THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY. 69 



Sec. 2. Tho three fish-commissioners of the state now in office, and their successors, shall also be and constitute a board of commissioners 

 of sheiltisheries, and be empowered to make or cause to be made a survey and map of all the grounds within the said area in Lonj; Island 

 sound, which have been or may be designated for the planting or cultivation of shellfish ; shall ascertain the ownership thereof, and how 

 much of the same is actually in use for said purposes ; they shall also cause a survey of all tho natural oyster-beds in said area, and shall 

 locate and delineate the same on said map, not to exceed $2,500 in cost, and shall report to the next session of the legislature a plan for 

 an equitable taxation of the property in said fisheries, and make an annual report of tho state and condition of said fisheries to the 

 legislature, and the said commissioners shall be empowered to appoint and employ a clerk of and for said board, and they shall each give 

 a bond for the faithful performance of their duties, and for the payment to the state treasurer of all money that may come into their hands 

 under this act, in the sum of two thousand dollars. 



Sue. 3. The said commissioners shall also bo empowered, in the name and in behalf of the state, to grant by written instruments, for 

 the purpose of planting and cultivating shellfish, perpetual franchises in such undesignated grounds within said area as are not, and for 

 ten years have not been, natural clam or oyster-beds, whenever application in writing is made to them through their clerk, by any ])ersmi 

 or persons who have resided in the state not less than one year next preceding the date of said application. The said application and the 

 said grant shall be in manner and form as shall be approved by the chief justice of the state, and all such grants may be assigned 

 to any person or persons who are or have been residents of the state for not less than one year next preceding such assignment, 

 by a written assignment, in manner and form a])proved by said chief justice ; and the said corauussiouers shall keep books of record and 

 record all such grants and assignments therein, and the same shall also be recorded in the town clerk's otflce in the town bounded on Long 

 Island sound, within the meridian boundary lines of which said grounds are located, if lines were run due south from present termini of 

 town lines. 



Sec. 4. When any such application is filed with the clerk of said commissioners, he shall note on the same the date of its reception, 

 and shall cause a written notice, stating the name and residence of the applicant, the date of filing the api^lication, the location, area, and 

 description ot the ground applied for, to be posted in tho office of the town clerk of the town bounded on the said Loug Island sound, within the 

 meridian boundary lines of which said grounds are located, where such notice shall remain posted for twenty days. Any person or jjcrsons 

 objecting to the granting of the grounds applied for, iw aforesaid, may tile a written notice with the town clerk, stating the grounds of 

 his or their objections, upon the payment to said town clerk of the snm of twenty-five cents, and at the end of said twenty days the town 

 clerk shall forward all snch written objections to the clerk of said commissioners; and in case such objections are so filed and forwarded, 

 the said commissioners, or a majority, shall, upon ten days' notice in writing, mailed or personally delivered to all the parties in interest, 

 hear and pass upon such objections at the town in which such grounds are located as aforesaid, and if such objections are not sustained 

 and the area of ground is not, in the opinion of the comuiissiouers, of unreasonable extent, they may, for the actual cost of surveying and 

 ni.apping of such grounds, and the further consideration of one dollar per acre paid to the said commissioners, to be by them paid over to 

 the treasurer of the state, grant a perpetual franchise for the planting and cultivating shellfish in such grounds, or in any part of the 

 same, in the manner aforesaid, and when no objections are made such grants may be made for the considerations hereinbefore named. At 

 all hearings authorized by this act the said commissioners may, by themselves or their clerks, subpa?ua witnesses and administer oaths as 

 in courts of law. 



Sec. 5. The said commissioners shall, previous to the delivery of any instrument conveying the right to plant and cultivate shellfish 

 on any of said grounds, make or cause to be made a survey of the same, and shall locate and delineate the same, or cause it be located and 

 delineated upon the map aforesaid, and upon receipt of said instrument of conveyance the grantee shall at once cause the grounds therein 

 conveyed to be plainly marked out by stakes, buoys, ranges, or monuments, which stakes and buoys shall be continued by the said grantee 

 and bis legal re])rcscntatives, and the light to use and occupy said ground for said pur])0ses shall be and remain in said grantee and his 

 legal representatives: Provided, That if the grantee or holder of said grounds does not actually use and occupy the same for the purposes 

 named, in good faith, within five years after the time of receiving such grant, the said commissioners shall petition the superior court of 

 the county having jurisaietion over the said grounds, to appoint a coumiittee to inquire andreport to said court as tothe use and occniiancy 

 of said grounds, in good faith, and said court shall in such case appoint such connnittee, who, after twelve days' notice to petitioners and 

 respondents, shall hear such petition aud report the facts thereon to said court, and if it .shall appear that said grounds are not used and 

 occupied in good faith for the purpose of planting or cultivating shellfish, the said conrt may order that said grounds revert to the state, 

 and that all stakes and buoys marking the same be removed, the costs in said petition to be paid at the discretion of the court. 



Sec. 6. When, after the occupancy and cultivation of any grounds designated as aforesaid, by the grantee or his legal representatives, 

 it shall appear to said commissioners that said grounds are not suited for the planting or cultivation of oysters, said grantee, upon receiving 

 a certificate to that efl'ect from said conmiissiouers, may surrender the same, or any part thereof. Not less than one hundred acres to the 

 state, by an instrimient of reh-ase of all his right and title thereto, and sh.all, on delivery of such instrument to the said conimis.sioner.s, 

 receive their certificate of said release of said grounds, the location and number of acres described therein, which shall be filed with the 

 state treasurer, who shall pay to the holder the sum of one d(dlar for every acre of ground described in said release, where said sum li.as 

 been paid therefor to the state. And the said release shall be recorded by the said commissioners in their record-books, and in the town 

 clerks' office in the town adjacent to and within the meridian boundary lines of which said grounds are located. 



Sec. 7. Said commissioners shall provide, in addition to the general map of said grounds, sectional maps, comprising all grounds 

 located within the meridian boundary lines of the several towns on the shores of the state, which maps shall be lodged in tho town 

 clerk's office of the said respective towns ; and said commissioners shall also provide and lodge with said town clerks blank api)lications for 

 such grounds and record-books for recording conveyances of the same, and all conveyances of such grounds and assignments, reversion, 

 and releases of the same shall be recorded in the books of said commissioners, and in the town clerks' offices in the towns adjacent to and 

 withiu the meridian boundary lines of which said grounds are located, in such books as are provided by said conmiissiouers, subject to 

 legal fees for such recording, and the cost of all such maps, blank-books, surveys, and all other expenses necessary for the carrying out tho 

 provisions of this act, shall be audited by the comptroller and paid for by t he treasurer of the state, and the said commissioners shall each 

 receive for their services five dollars per day for the time they are actually emi)loyed, as provided for ii, this act ; their accounts for such 

 service to be audited by the com])troller aud paid by the treasurer of the state. 



Sec. 8. All designations, assignments, and transfers of ground in Loug Island sound heretofore made for the purpose of planting or 

 cultivating oysters, clams, or mus.sels, excepting natural oyster-, clam-, or mussel-beds, are hereby validated and confirmed. 



Sec 9. All the provisions of the statutes of this state relating to the planting, cultivating, working, and protecting shellfishcries, 

 upon grounds heretofore designated under said laws, except as provided for in section eight of this act, and as are rot inconsistent with 

 this act, are hereby continued and made applicable to such designations as may be made under the provisions of this act. 



Sec. 10. When it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the said commissioners that any natural oyster- or clam-bed has been designated 

 by them to any person or persons, the said commissioners shall petition the superior court of the county having jurisdiction over the said 

 grounds, to appoint a committee to inquire and report to the said court the facts as to such grounds, and said court shall, in such case, 



