496 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
boundary lines of which said grounds are located. For all purposes relating to judicial proceedings 
in criminal matters the jurisdiction of justices of the peace of the several towns bordering on Long 
Island Sound shall extend southerly by lines running due south by true meridian from the southern ter- 
mini of the boundarj" lines between said towns to the boundary line between the States of Connecticut 
and New York. 
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 the town clerk’s office of the said respective towns, 
and said commissioners shall also provide and lodge with said town clerks blank applications 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 commis- 
sioners, and in the town clerks’ offices in the towns adjacent to and within the meridian boundary 
lines of which said grounds are located, in such books as are provided by said commissioners, subject 
to legal fees for such recording; and the cost of all such maps, blank books, surveys, and all other 
expenses necessary for carrying out the provisions of this act, shall be audited by the comptroller and 
I)aid for by the treasurer of the State; and the said commissioners shall each receive for their services 
$5 per day for the time they are actually employed, as provided for in tlfis act; their accounts for such 
service to be audited by the comptroller and paid by the treasurer of the State. 
Sec. 8. All designations and transfers of oyster, clam, or mussel grounds within the waters of Long 
Island Sound heretofore made (except designations made of 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, work- 
ing, and protecting shellfisheries upon grounds heretofore designated under said laws, except as pro- 
vided for in section 8 of this act and as are 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 nat- 
ural oyster or clam bed has been designated by them to any person or persons, the said commis- 
sioners 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 appoint such committee, who after 12 days’ notice to the petitioners and 
respondents shall hear such petition, and report the facts thereon lo said court; and if it shall appear 
that any natural oyster or clam bed, or any part thereof, have been so designated, the said court may 
order that said grounds may revert to the State, after a reasonable time for the claimant of the same to 
remove any shellfish he may have planted or cultivated thereon in good faith, and said court may 
further order that all stakes and buoys marking the same be removed, the costs in said petition to be 
taxed at the discretion of the court. 
Sec. 11. Any commissioner who .shall knowingly grant to any person or persons a franchise, as 
hereinbefore provided, in any natural oyster or clam bed, shall be subject to a fine of not less than |100 
nor more than $500, and if such franchise is granted the grant shall be void, and all moneys paid 
thereon shall be forfeited to the State ; and the said commissioners shall in no case grant to any person 
or persons a right to plant or cultivate shellfish which ghall interfere with any established right of 
fishing, and if any such grant is made the same shall be void. 
Sec. 12. The superior court of New Haven County on the application of the selectmen of the town 
of Orange, and the superior court of any county on the application of the oyster-gronud committee of 
any town in said county, shall appoint a committee of three disinterested persons of the town within 
the boundaries of which any natural oyster, clam, or mussel beds exist, to ascertain, locate, and describe 
by proper boundaries, all the natural oyster, clam, or mussel beds within the boundaries of such town. 
Said committee so appointed shall first give 3 weeks’ notice, by advertising in a newspaper published 
in or nearest to said town, of the time and place of their first meeting for such purpose ; they shall hear par- 
ties who appear before them, and may take evidence from such other sources as they may, in their discre- 
tion, deem proper, and they shall make written designations by ranges, bounds, and areas of all the nat- 
ural oyster, clam, and mussel beds within the boundaries of the town they are appointed for, and shall 
make a report of their doings to the superior court, and such report, when made to and accepted by 
said court, and recorded in the records thereof, shall be a final and conclusive determination of the 
extent, boundaries, and location of such natural beds at the date of such report. It shall be the duty 
of the clerk of the court to transmit to the town clerk of each of said towns a certified copy of said 
report so accepted and recorded, in relation to the beds of such town, which shall be recorded by said 
