344 STATE OF NEW YORK. 



CHAPTER 385 OF THE LAWS OF 1884. 



AN ACT to cede lands under water of Gardiner's and Peconic bays to Suffolk county, Long 

 Island, for the cultivation of shellfish. 



Passed May 2S, 1884. 



Section 1. All the right, title and interest which the people of the state of New York have in 

 and to the lands under water of Gardiner's and Peconic bays in the county of Suffolk, is hereby 

 ceded to said county, for the purpose of oyster culture, to be managed and controlled by the 

 board of supervisors thereof provided that such lands shall revert to the state when they shall 

 cease to be used for oyster culture, and provided that nothing in this act shall be held to interfere 

 with the right of the commissioners of the land office to grant lands under water in said bays to 

 owners of adjacent uplands for purposes of commerce or of beneficial enjoyment within the 

 existing bulkhead lines. 



§ 2 The board of supervisors of Suffolk county shall have power, and it shall be their duty, 

 within thirty days after the passage of this act, to appoint three commissioners of shellfisheries 

 in the waters of Gardiner's and Peconic bays and the tributaries thereof, in the county of Suffolk. 

 Said commissioners shall be residents of some one or other of the towns lying contiguous to said 

 bays, and at the first appointment thereof one shall be appointed for the term of one year, one for a 

 term of two years, and one for a term of three years; and annually thereafter one commissioner 

 shall be appointed for a term of three years. Said commissioners when so chosen shall take the 

 usual oath of office and shall give bonds in one hundred dollars each, to the board of supervisors 

 of said county, conditioned for the faithful performance of their official duties ; and all moneys 

 received by them for the sale of the lands hereinafter specified shall be paid over by them to the 

 county treasurer of said county, 



§ 3. Upon the written application of any person of full age who has been an actual resident 

 of Suffolk county for six months next preceding the date of such application, the said commis- 

 sioners, or a majority of their members, shall cause a survey and map to be made of any land 

 under water of said bays or the tributaries thereof, suitable for planting oysters thereon, as 

 described in such application, and shall take the proper steps to determine whether there is on 

 said lands any natural growth of clams such that one person in one day could take three bushels, 

 or a natural shell bed from which shells can be taken in quantities for use in other places; and 

 if there be no such natural growth or shell bed said commissioners shall sell and convey to said 

 applicant, by warranty deed, all the right, title and interest which the said county of Suffolk shall 

 have in and to said land. Said application shall not cover more than twenty-five acres, nor shall 

 said commissioners sell and convey to any one person less than one or more than twenty-five 

 acres; and they shall receive for said land at the rate of one dollar per acre, together with such 

 further sum as may be deemed by the supervisors of said county sufficient to compensate said 

 commissioners for their services and expenses in surveying and setting off said lands and in pre- 

 paring and executing the proper deeds to said applicant ; said deeds shall expressly provide and 



