Title 26 — Title 26: Fisheries and Game

Sec. 26-1. Definitions. Words and terms used in this chapter shall be construed as follows: (1) “Animal” includes birds, quadrupeds, reptiles and amphibians. (2) “Bait species” means all species of fish, frogs, crustaceans and insects listed as bait in the regulations issued by t…

Secs. 26-10 to 26-13. Board may borrow from General Fund. Game Fund. Fish Fund. Disposition of receipts. Sections 26-10 to 26-13, inclusive, are repealed. (1949 Rev., S. 4854, 4873, 5018, 5019; 1953, S. 2549d, 2550d; 1957, P.A. 159; 160; 1959, P.A. 398, S. 3, 4, 25; 1971, P.A. 87…

Sec. 26-100. Posting notices. The commissioner shall cause such notices to be posted along or near the boundary lines of fish and wildlife refuges, closed areas, management areas, fish hatcheries, fish rearing pools and fish retaining ponds forbidding entrance therein as will, in…

Sec. 26-101. Wildlife refuges and closed areas. The commissioner may establish wildlife refuges, closed areas or safety zones on public lands or waters or, providing he first obtains the necessary written consent, on private lands and waters. The commissioner may close any such a…

Sec. 26-102. Fish spawning areas and refuges. The commissioner may establish fish spawning areas and refuges on any waters; and the commissioner may establish closed areas and safety zones on public lands and waters and, with the consent of the owner, on private lands and waters,…

Sec. 26-103. Management and preservation of islands in and marshes in or bordering the Housatonic River. All islands in the Housatonic River and all marshes in or bordering the Housatonic River, extending from the mouth of the river to the upper limits of its tidal fluctuation, a…

Sec. 26-104. Bantam Lake sanctuary. No person shall hunt, take, kill or attempt to kill any duck, geese, brant, swan or other waterfowl or shore birds or waders protected by law, resting on or flying over the waters of Bantam Lake or that part of Bantam River located between said…

Sec. 26-105. Lake Wononscopomuc sanctuary. Limited hunting. No person shall hunt, take, kill or attempt to kill any duck, goose, brant, swan or other waterfowl or shore bird or wader protected by law, resting on or flying over the waters of Lake Wononscopomuc, or kill or attempt …

Sec. 26-106. Milford refuge. That portion of Milford Harbor extending from Memorial Bridge to the Milford breakwater and that portion of Gulf Pond extending from land of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company to said breakwater and that portion of the upland known …

Sec. 26-107. Hunting and trapping on wildlife refuge or closed area. No person shall, at any time, enter upon any state wildlife refuge or closed area to take, hunt, trap, snare, net, pursue, kill or destroy, or attempt to take, hunt, kill or destroy, any wildlife or disturb, des…

Secs. 26-107a to 26-107e. Reserved for future use. PART VIIa CONSERVATION PROGRAM FORNONHARVESTED WILDLIFE

Sec. 26-107f. Program for the conservation of nonharvested wildlife. (a) The General Assembly declares it to be the policy of the state to manage harvested and nonharvested wildlife to insure their continued participation in the ecosystem and to accord special protection to any e…

Sec. 26-107g. Citizen's Advisory Board for Nonharvested Wildlife. Membership. Duties. Section 26-107g is repealed. (P.A. 86-370, S. 2, 6; P.A. 95-38, S. 8.)

Sec. 26-107h. Annual report. On or before February first, annually, the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall submit to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment a report on the progress of th…

Sec. 26-107i. Sale of wildlife stamps, prints, publications and other items. Allocation of revenue. The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may establish a program for the sale of wildlife stamps, prints, posters, calendars, publications or other items. Any revenu…

Sec. 26-108. Inland waters and marine district defined. The commissioner may, after public notice and hearing, determine the location of a line across any stream flowing into Long Island Sound, Fishers Island Sound or Little Narragansett Bay, or any tributary thereof, above which…

Sec. 26-109. Dividing lines between inland and marine waters in Groton, Stonington, the Niantic River and the Housatonic River. (a) The dividing line between inland water and the marine district in the towns of Groton and Stonington shall be a line five hundred feet north of U.S.…

Sec. 26-110. Demarcation lines. The commissioner may establish a line at the outlet and inlet of any artificial or natural lake or pond, which line shall divide such lake or pond from any stream or river flowing into or out of the same. On one side of such line the provisions of …

Sec. 26-111. Regulation of fishing. In the interest of developing a sound program of sport fisheries management for all fish, including warm water, cold water and anadromous species, and all bait species, and to encourage landowner participation, and to develop public fishing in …

Sec. 26-112. Scope of regulations. The commissioner may, after notice and public hearing, issue regulations governing fishing for all species of fish and the taking of all bait species in the inland district, which regulations may: (1) Establish the open and closed seasons, which…

Sec. 26-113. Hearings. Notice of such hearing shall be advertised in one or more newspapers having a general circulation in each of the counties of the state or in the locality where such waters are situated and shall be posted on the eRegulations System and on the Department of …

Sec. 26-114. Prohibited acts. No species of fish or bait shall be fished for or taken in the inland district except as authorized under the provisions of this chapter and the regulations issued by the commissioner. Any species of fish or bait taken during the closed season for su…

Sec. 26-114a. Purchase or sale of snakehead fish prohibited. No person shall sell or purchase any snakehead fish in the state. (P.A. 03-192, S. 11.)

Sec. 26-115. Fisheries management practices of commissioner. The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may engage in fisheries management practices and may expend from federal aid funds necessary moneys to establish, construct and maintain, on any state-owned land a…

Sec. 26-116. Exceptions. The provisions of sections 26-111 to 26-117, inclusive, shall not apply to the taking of fish for commercial purposes and shall not affect any statute regulating fishing in any lake, pond or reservoir used for domestic water supply, nor shall any action b…

Sec. 26-117. Fine for violation. Any person who violates any provision of sections 26-102 and 26-111 to 26-116, inclusive, or any regulation issued by the commissioner pursuant thereto shall be fined one hundred fifty-four dollars. Each fish taken or possessed contrary to said pr…

Sec. 26-118. Fishing in reservoir. No person shall take or attempt to take any fish from the waters of any lake, pond or reservoir, which waters are used for domestic purposes, without having obtained written permission from the official having such lake, pond or reservoir under …

Sec. 26-119. Use of explosives or poisons. Fish shall not be taken by means of any explosive. Except for mining or mechanical purposes, no dynamite or any other explosive shall be used in any of the waters of the state or possessed upon any shore or island of any inland water the…

Sec. 26-120. Striped bass. Section 26-120 is repealed. (1949 Rev., S. 4975; 1957, P.A. 169, S. 1; 1959, P.A. 29, S. 1; P.A. 80-164, S. 4, 5.)

Sec. 26-121. Taking of tomcod or frost fish in Saugatuck River. Tomcod or frost fish may be taken, annually, without a license, from the Saugatuck River, between the State Street Bridge and Wood's Dam, so called, in the town of Westport, by sport fishing or spearing, between Dece…

Sec. 26-122. Fishing through ice in Cranberry Pond, Cream Hill Lake and Lake Quonnipaug. No person shall take or attempt to take any fish through the ice in Cranberry Pond, sometimes called Manitook Lake, in the town of Granby, except on Saturdays and Sundays. No person shall tak…

Sec. 26-123. Fishing through ice in Long Meadow Pond. Section 26-123 is repealed. (1949 Rev., S. 5012; 1963, P.A. 120.)

Sec. 26-124. Indian Pond. Any nonresident who holds a license to fish in the state of New York may sport fish in that portion of Indian Pond located within the town of Sharon without a license to sport fish issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter; but such nonresident s…

Sec. 26-125. Beach Pond and Killingly Pond. Any nonresident who holds a license to fish in the state of Rhode Island may sport fish in that portion of Beach Pond which is located in the town of Voluntown and of Killingly Pond which is located within the town of Killingly without …

Sec. 26-126. Disposition of fish illegally taken. Any fish or crustacean, or part thereof, illegally taken or possessed shall be seized by the commissioner, any authorized employee of the department or any conservation officer, and the commissioner may, at his discretion, sell or…

Sec. 26-127. Conservation of bait species. Daily limit. (a) Any person who transports out of this state any bait species taken from any of the waters of this state or who takes, assists in taking or attempts to take any bait species from any such waters for the purpose of transpo…

Sec. 26-128. Carp and goldfish. (a) No person shall sell, offer for sale, transport, transfer, possess or use any carp or goldfish for bait fish purposes. No person shall introduce any carp or goldfish into any of the inland waters of the state without first having secured a writ…

Sec. 26-128a. Taking of glass eels, elver eels and silver eels prohibited. Penalty. No person shall take or attempt to take any elver eel, glass eel or silver eel from the waters of the state. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be fined not more than two…

Sec. 26-128b. Trout. Elimination of closed season. Notwithstanding any provision of this title, there shall be no closed season for sport fishing of trout, provided nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's authori…

Sec. 26-129. Forfeiture of fishing tackle. Any boat, seine, net, spear, torch, fishing tackle or other implement used in taking or catching fish or crustaceans in violation of any provision of this chapter or any regulation issued by the commissioner shall be forfeited and may be…

Sec. 26-130. Sale of fish for stocking; sale of fish management commodities; sale of trout eggs. No fish shall be furnished by the state for stocking any stream, river, pond or lake from which the taking of fish is prohibited by the owner or lessee; provided, if the state, in the…

Sec. 26-131. Registration of private waters. Taking of fish without license. Any owner of private waters who desires to remove fish from such waters as provided for in this section shall apply to the commissioner for a certificate of registration of such private waters on a form …

Sec. 26-132. Privately stocked waters. Upon request by any association owning or controlling the fishing rights in any stream or pond the waters of which are stocked with fish by such association at no expense to the state, the commissioner may prescribe, by written regulation, t…

Sec. 26-133. Stocking with different species of fish. Section 26-133 is repealed. (1949 Rev., S. 5000; 1955, S. 2545d; 1971, P.A. 872, S. 308; P.A. 83-191, S. 8, 9.)

Sec. 26-134. Obstructing streams. No person shall, unless authorized by the commissioner, prevent the passing of fish in any stream or through the outlet or inlet of any pond or stream by means of any rack, screen, weir or other obstruction or fail, within ten days after service …

Sec. 26-135. Pond weirs and nets. The proprietor of any private pond or lake, and the selectmen of any town in which any pond or lake is situated, or the selectmen of the towns surrounding any lake or pond located in more than one town, may, when any such pond or lake has been st…

Sec. 26-136. Fishways. (a) Upon petition of ten or more persons owning property above any dam or artificial obstruction existing on October 1, 1982, built upon any stream, the commissioner shall determine whether such dam or artificial obstruction shall be provided by the person,…

Sec. 26-137. Fishing near fishways. No person shall take or attempt to take any fish within two hundred fifty feet of any fishway, except that the commissioner when the commissioner deems necessary may extend or reduce such distance and shall indicate such other distance by posti…

Sec. 26-138. Draining for taking fish. No person, firm, corporation or municipality or political subdivision thereof shall intentionally drain the water from any stream, lake, pond, reservoir or other impoundment for the purpose of taking fish therefrom or shall so drain such wat…

Sec. 26-139. Responsibility for draining. Penalty. The person who has authority to issue an order directing the draining of any such waters shall, for the purpose of section 26-138, be deemed to be responsible for such act if such draining takes place and the name and title of su…