Title 26 — Title 26: Fisheries and Game

Secs. 26-187 to 26-191. Commissioners; appointment; report. Compensation of shellfish commissioners. Office; clerk; expenses. Engineer; employment. Use of shellfisheries boat. Sections 26-187 to 26-191, inclusive, are repealed. (1949 Rev., S. 3591; 5021–5024; June, 1955, S. 2555d…

Sec. 26-192. Exclusive jurisdiction of state. The state shall exercise jurisdiction and control over all shellfisheries which are located in that area of the state described in section 3294 of the general statutes, revision of 1918; and the Commissioner of Agriculture shall prepa…

Sec. 26-192a. Lead agency. The Department of Agriculture shall be the lead agency on shellfish in Connecticut. The department: (1) Shall coordinate the activities of other state agencies with regard to shellfish; (2) shall act as a liaison on shellfish matters between the state a…

Sec. 26-192b. Standards for shellfish testing. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of section 19a-29a, the Department of Agriculture shall promulgate health standards for shellfish testing and shall approve private laboratories to perform shellfish testing. Such heal…

Sec. 26-192c. (Formerly Sec. 19a-96). Inspection and regulations concerning shellfish. License. (a) The Department of Agriculture may inspect shellfish beds and areas in this state where shellfish are grown or harvested, all boats, tools and appliances used in the production and …

Sec. 26-192d. (Formerly Sec. 19a-97). Appeals from orders, suspension or revocation of a license. Any person, firm or corporation aggrieved by any order, suspension or revocation of a license made under the provisions of sections 26-192c to 26-192i, inclusive, may appeal therefro…

Sec. 26-192e. (Formerly Sec. 19a-98). Classification of coastal waters, shores and tidal flats for the taking of shellfish. (a) The Department of Agriculture may prohibit the taking or harvesting of shellfish from designated areas in tidal flats, shores and coastal waters wheneve…

Sec. 26-192f. (Formerly Sec. 19a-99). Penalties. Any person, firm or corporation (1) harvesting or taking shellfish from an area closed and posted by the Department of Agriculture against the removal of shellfish, except as provided in section 26-192h, or an area closed by commer…

Sec. 26-192g. (Formerly Sec. 19a-100). Enforcement. The provisions of sections 26-192e and 26-192f relating to the unauthorized taking of shellfish in contaminated and posted areas shall be enforced by local directors of health. Local police departments and the state shellfish po…

Sec. 26-192h. (Formerly Sec. 19a-101). License for the taking of shellfish from closed areas for certain purposes. Shellfish may be taken by commercial harvesters from areas classified as conditional-closed, restricted, or conditionally restricted when they are removed for transp…

Sec. 26-192i. (Formerly Sec. 19a-95). Shellfish; definition. When used in sections 26-192c to 26-192h, inclusive, the term “shellfish” means mussels, oysters, all varieties of clams and whole and roe-on scallops, but does not include scallops if the final product is the shucked a…

Sec. 26-192j. Pollution which affects shellfish grounds. Liability to municipal shellfish commission. (a) The Commissioner of Agriculture may investigate any suspected or actual spill, as defined in section 22a-452c, which may threaten any shellfish grounds. The commissioner may …

Sec. 26-192k. Shellfish relay from restricted relay grounds. Tag identification information confidential. Code re harvest location. (a) The Department of Agriculture shall allow the relay of shellfish from shellfish grounds classified as restricted relay to other grounds in accor…

Sec. 26-192l. Department of Agriculture's shellfish research and survey vessel. The Department of Agriculture's dedicated vessel, used for the research and survey of shellfish populations in Long Island Sound and docked at the Bureau of Aquaculture office in Milford, shall be nam…

Sec. 26-192m. Aquaculture Advisory Council. Membership. Duties. Annual report. Section 26-192m is repealed, effective May 23, 2022. (June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5, S. 116; P.A. 22-54, S. 7.)

Sec. 26-193. Natural oyster beds: Map on file. The locations and descriptions of the natural oyster beds respectively under state jurisdiction shall remain as established and as set forth in section 3295 of the general statutes, revision of 1918 with the addition of those portion…

Sec. 26-194. Leasing of shellfish grounds. Fee. Utility lines and public use structures. Shellfish removal or relocation costs. Annual host payments for Long Island Sound crossings. Deposit of fee proceeds. Designation of shellfish areas to regional agricultural science and techn…

Sec. 26-194a. Lease of a state shellfish bed to a municipality for recreational shellfishing. Fees. The Commissioner of Agriculture may lease any state recreational shellfish bed to a municipality which is adjacent to such bed for ten dollars per acre per year pursuant to a plan …

Sec. 26-194b. Lease of shellfish parcels for use by nonprofit education or conservation organizations. Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, the Commissioner of Agriculture may designate one or more suitable shellfish parcels for the use of one or more nonprofit …

Sec. 26-195. State ground; determination of disputed boundaries. All questions and disputes touching the ownership, title, buoys, boundaries, ranges, extent or location of any shellfish grounds within the exclusive jurisdiction of the state may be referred to and settled by the C…

Sec. 26-196. Determination of disputed boundaries in other cases. When any designation of shellfish grounds which are wholly or partially within the exclusive jurisdiction of the state contains a map thereof or refers to such map lodged on file in the town clerk's office, and the…

Sec. 26-197. Commissioners' fees on hearings. Section 26-197 is repealed. (1949 Rev., S. 5033; P.A. 78-48, S. 3.)

Sec. 26-198. Fees for recording or copying. The same fees shall be paid for recording or copying papers and maps under this chapter in the office of the Commissioner of Agriculture as are charged by town clerks for like services; and all fees so paid shall be accounted for and pa…

Sec. 26-199. Recording of transfers. All transfers of title to oyster grounds within state jurisdiction shall be recorded in the record books of said Commissioner of Agriculture. The person making such transfer shall cause such record to be made forthwith or, in lieu thereof, sha…

Sec. 26-200. Survey and staking; maps; fee. Said Commissioner of Agriculture shall, previous to the delivery of any instrument conveying the right to plant or cultivate shellfish upon any of said grounds, make or cause to be made a survey of the same upon the official map or maps…

Sec. 26-201. Release to the state. Any owner of grounds designated for the cultivation of oysters in the waters of Long Island Sound within the jurisdiction of said Commissioner of Agriculture may surrender the same by delivery to the state of a deed of release of the same, execu…

Sec. 26-202. Leasing beacon ground. The Commissioner of Agriculture may hire and take upon leases not exceeding a term of ten years, in the name and behalf of the state, any such plot or plots of ground within the state as he deems necessary for constructing, erecting, setting, m…

Sec. 26-203. Buoying of certain natural beds. The Commissioner of Agriculture shall cause those natural or public oyster beds in the exclusive jurisdiction of this state, known and described in section 3295 of the general statutes, revision of 1918, as the Stratford bed, Fish Isl…

Sec. 26-204. Grant of right to plant or cultivate shellfish which interferes with established fishing right void. Except as provided in section 26-194, said Commissioner of Agriculture shall in no case grant to any person a right to plant or cultivate shellfish which interferes w…

Sec. 26-205. Wardens; appointment, duties and powers. Section 26-205 is repealed, effective October 1, 2002. (1949 Rev., S. 5042; 1971, P.A. 872, S. 343; 1972, P.A. 52, S. 13; S.A. 02-12, S. 1.)

Sec. 26-206. Shellfish police. The Commissioner of Agriculture may, upon the application of the Oystermen's Protective Association of Connecticut or the owner of any oyster franchise or grounds or any natural growers' association, during such time as the commissioner may determin…

Sec. 26-207. Taxation of shellfish grounds. Any owner of shellfish grounds, franchise or franchises lying within the exclusive jurisdiction of the state, on or before the first day of July, annually, shall deliver to the Commissioner of Agriculture a statement under oath of such …

Sec. 26-208. Laying of tax. All statements so delivered or made shall be alphabetically arranged, and the Commissioner of Agriculture shall determine the value of all property so returned and described in such statements, which property shall be liable to taxation at the valuatio…

Sec. 26-209. Appeal. Any person aggrieved by the action of the Commissioner of Agriculture under section 26-208 shall have the same right of appeal to the Superior Court as is provided by law for appeals to said court from boards of assessment appeals of towns, except as otherwis…

Sec. 26-210. Collection of tax. If any tax so laid is not paid on or before the first Monday in March, the Commissioner of Agriculture shall make and issue his warrant for the collection thereof, with interest thereon, at the rate of one per cent per month from the day such tax b…

Sec. 26-211. Taxes unpaid five years; reversion. When the taxes on any oyster grounds within the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and under the control of the Commissioner of Agriculture are in arrears for five consecutive years, said commissioner shall notify the owner or own…

Sec. 26-212. Licensing and numbering of shellfish vessels. Fee. No person shall take or gather for commercial purposes oysters, clams, mussels or other molluscan shellfish from any natural shellfish bed in the state in any boat or vessel unless it is licensed and numbered in the …

Sec. 26-213. License to work on natural beds. No person shall take or gather for commercial purposes oysters, clams, mussels or other molluscan shellfish from any natural shellfish bed in the state and no person shall be permitted upon any boat, licensed pursuant to the provision…

Sec. 26-214. Nonresident oystermen. Foreign vessels prohibited. Section 26-214 is repealed, effective June 23, 1999. (1949 Rev., S. 5046; P.A. 99-169, S. 6, 7.)

Sec. 26-215. Power dredges. Local shellfish commissions. Use of power dredges to restore shellfish beds. (a) There shall not be used on any licensed boat any device operated otherwise than by hand power, for hoisting or operating dredges or other implements for gathering oysters,…

Sec. 26-216. Penalty. Any person who violates any provision of section 26-215, or who uses any device or number not furnished by the Commissioner of Agriculture for a boat or vessel used in cultivating or dredging for shellfish, shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars or…

Sec. 26-217. Use of chain bags on natural oyster beds. No person shall use any dredge with a chain bag having rings of less than three-quarters of an inch in diameter, or any net bag with smaller mesh than two inches from knot to knot, on any natural oyster bed. Any person who vi…

Sec. 26-218. License forfeited on conviction. The conviction of any person of dredging without a license, upon a natural oyster bed, shall render such person ineligible for a license for the remainder of the license year, and the conviction of any licensee for any violation of th…

Sec. 26-219. License to take conchs. Section 26-219 is repealed, effective January 1, 2016. (1949, S. 2556d; 1971, P.A. 872, S. 354; 1972, P.A. 52, S. 24; P.A. 78-334, S. 5; P.A. 83-357; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-6, S. 54, 117; P.A. 99-169, S. 2, 7; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 14…

Sec. 26-220. Shellfish spawning beds. The Commissioner of Agriculture may designate in such manner as he may determine such spawning beds as he deems necessary south of the jurisdiction line but not more than ten acres in any one town, and cause the same to be marked by buoys to …

Secs. 26-221 to 26-223. Mud dumping. Notice of intended dumping on private oyster beds. Dumping inspectors. Sections 26-221 to 26-223, inclusive, are repealed, effective October 1, 2002. (1949 Rev., S. 5052–5054; 1953, S. 2559d; 1955, S. 2558d; 1959, P.A. 95, S. 4; 1971, P.A. 872…

Sec. 26-224. Deposit of injurious substances in tidal waters or on oyster ground. Penalty. Any person who wilfully and knowingly deposits or assists in depositing any starfish or periwinkle, any shellfish imported from another state and infected with a communicable disease or par…

Sec. 26-224a. Depositing of shellfish in tidal waters. Regulations. (a) The Commissioner of Agriculture shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 setting forth standards and procedures for the depositing of shellfish imported from outside the state i…

Sec. 26-225. Stealing oysters. Any person who, in the daytime, unlawfully takes and carries away any oysters lawfully planted or cultivated in any waters, or any oysters being on any place designated for the planting or cultivation of oysters, shall be fined not more than three h…

Sec. 26-226. Injury to enclosure. Any person who wilfully injures any oyster enclosure legally designated, marked out and enclosed or removes any buoys or stakes used to mark out any oyster ground, or who takes any shells from such enclosure, shall (1) for a first offense, be fin…