492 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
purpose ; that the ground is within town limits ; and that fees due to the town for this designation have 
been deposited. Town clerks may grant the required certificates, and town treasurers receipt for pay- 
ments of fees. Violations of this act by members of town committees are punishable. Having received 
his designation, the applicant must mark the boundaries of his ground by buoys or stakes, set at suit- 
able distances and labeled with the name or initials of the owner ; and until then he shall not be per- 
mitted to catch oysters upon the ground. Designations may be made to several in common. 
Sec. 4. Every person who shall plant or cultivate oysters, clams, or mussels in any such place shall 
own them, and also all other oysters, clams, or mussels in such place, and have the exclusive right of tak- 
ing up and disposing of them and of using such place for the purpose of planting or cultivating oysters, 
clams, or mussels therein, which shall be transferable by written assignment, but nothing herein con- 
tained shall atfect the rights of any owner of lands in which there may be salt-water creeks or inlets, 
or which may be opposite or contiguious to such navigable waters ; nor the existing by-laws of any 
city, town, or borough ; nor authorize any committee or selectmen to designate, or any person to mark, 
stake out, or inclose any natural oyster bed (except in New Haven harbor and its tributaries, and for 
a distance not exceeding 2 miles from the mouth of said harbor), or infringe the free navigation of said 
waters, or interfere with the drawing of seines in any place established and customarily used for seine 
fishing. 
Sec. 5. Any person procuring oyster ground “ for the purpose of assigning rights which he may 
acquire for profit or speculation,” shall be fined fSO. 
Sec. fi. Amended and replaced by subsequent legislation, adds to the powers of the New Haven 
committee the power to designate ground for oyster planting and cultivation in the waters of Long 
Island Sound, which lies between East Haven and a line parallel to its boundary and 500 yards to the 
westward ; and the selectmen of Orange may designate between this tract and a line due south Horn 
Savin Rock, even though such ground “ may have been natural oyster beds.” And the committee’s 
previous designations in this territory are hereby confirmed. 
Sec. 7. Enjoins that all designations of oyster ground, when made, shall be exactly recorded in 
the office of the town clerk, together with all descriptions and assignments ; “ and all attested copies 
of such applications, designations, and assignments, with a certificate that they have been recorded, 
shall be conclusive evidence of the fact of such record, and prima facie evidence of the validity of such 
application, designation, and assignment.” 
Sec. 8. Any owner who has lost the evidences of title to oyster ground, after having filed them 
with the town clerk, may apply to the town committee, and if he satisfies them of his claim, he may 
receive from them a new title ; but there are heavy penalties for fraud under this provision. In case 
of boundaries being lost, or when the committee authorized to stake out oyster grounds have described 
the boundaries incorrectly, the superior court, as a court of equity, may, upon petition, order such un- 
certain boundaries to be reestablished, according to prescribed methods, except in cases where a map 
of the ground has been filed with the town clerk, in which case uncertain bounds are to be established 
by a surveyor appointed by a judge of the superior court. 
Sec. 9. When there are more than thirty designations in any one town the selectmen shall procure 
a map of the district. 
Sec. 10. An owner desiring to dam or lock an inlet or salt-water creek for the purpose of culti- 
vating oysters therein, the selectmen shall visit the spot and report upon the propriety of the request 
at a meeting of the town ; if the meeting approves, the owner may build a dam, etc., as indicated by 
the selectmen, and maintain it during the pleasure of the general assembly. 
Sec. 11. When any natural oyster bed is set apart, contrary to law, the superior court in the same 
county has power to revoke the designation, if it deems it best ; but must give the owner time to 
remove any oysters and improvements on the property. 
Secs. 12 and 13. Conferred privileges upon Guilford which that town declined to ratify. 
Sec. 14. No person, except the authorized committee or selectmen, shall stake out or inclose any 
oyster grounds in navigable waters, unless such persons shall own this ground under the provisions of 
this chapter ; penalty, fine not to exceed $50. 
Sec. 15. Any member of a committee who shall designate ground for oyster cultivation upon natural 
oyster beds, or in any other place where it is prohibited by law, shall forfeit from $25 to $200, excepting 
in Orange, New Haven, and East Haven. 
Sec. 16. Any other person than the owner, who shall unlawfully remove any shells or shellfish 
from a place designated for oyster planting, shall be fined not exceeding $300, or imprisoned not more 
than one year; but if the offense be committed at night, heavier penalties are decreed. 
