Title 26 — Title 26: Fisheries and Game

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 Section 26-214 is repealed, effective June 23, 1999.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 Section 26-219 is repealed, effective January 1, 2016.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 Sections 26-221 to 26-223, inclusive, are repealed, effective October 1, 2002.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…

Sec. 26-227. Taking from designated but unmarked ground. No person shall dredge, plant or collect any shells, shellfish or other material or perform any work pertaining to the shellfish industry upon any shellfish grounds, unless each lot whereon any such work is performed has at…

Sec. 26-228. Taking shellfish between sunset and sunrise. Any person who, between sunset and sunrise, takes or collects any shells or shellfish from the shores or waters in this state shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars or more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned…

Sec. 26-229. Injury to monuments. Any person who wilfully injures, removes or displaces any range monument, signal, beacon, boundstone, post or buoy, or any part, appurtenance or enclosure thereof, erected, constructed or set by the Commissioner of Agriculture, or by his order, o…

Sec. 26-230. Speculation in ground prohibited. Illegally staking ground. Any person who applies for and procures any designation of a place for planting oysters, clams or mussels to be made to him, for the purpose of assigning the rights which he may acquire, for profit or specul…

Sec. 26-231. Towing dredge prohibited. Any person who, without the written permission of the owner or lessee of any properly designated oyster ground, tows or assists in towing under water any dredge, trawl or contrivance for taking fish or shellfish, in a manner to cause it to c…

Sec. 26-232. Taking oysters from natural beds or the Housatonic or Saugatuck Rivers. (a) Any person who (1) between the twentieth day of July and the twentieth day of September, gathers or takes any oysters or shells from any natural oyster bed specified in section 26-193 other t…

Sec. 26-233. Taking oysters from Housatonic River. Section 26-233 is repealed. (1949 Rev., S. 5065; 1961, P.A. 517, S. 26; P.A. 78-334, S. 17.)

Secs. 26-233a and 26-234. Taking of oysters in Housatonic River other than by tongs. Greenwich Cove oysters. Sections 26-233a and 26-234 are repealed, effective October 1, 2002. (1949 Rev., S. 5066; 1971, P.A. 155, S. 1; 872, S. 440; 1972, P.A. 52, S. 38; P.A. 02-89, S. 90; S.A. …

Sec. 26-234a. Daily limit on oysters. Section 26-234a is repealed, effective October 1, 1999. (1969, P.A. 218, S. 3; 1971, P.A. 872, S. 362; 1972, P.A. 52, S. 32; P.A. 99-110, S. 6.)

Sec. 26-234b. Taking of eastern oysters. Regulations. No person may take eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) from the waters of this state which are less than three inches long or which are otherwise not ready for harvest, as determined by the Commissioner of Agriculture, exc…

Sec. 26-235. Taking of clams. Recreational harvest limit. Penalties. Defacing or removal of sign. (a) No person shall take any long clams less than one and one-half inches in length, provided the Waterford-East Lyme shellfish commission may make such residency requirements for di…

Sec. 26-236. Uncertified natural grounds. No provisions of any public or special act concerning the quantity of shellfish to be taken from natural grounds shall apply to the harvesting of shellfish from the following-described uncertified natural grounds posted by the Department …

Sec. 26-237. Penalty. Any person violating any provision of this chapter for which violation no specific penalty is imposed shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than six months or both. (1949 Rev., S. 5068.)

Sec. 26-237a. Deposit of cultch material on state shellfish beds. There is established within the Department of Agriculture a program to purchase and acquire shell or other cultch material for deposit on state shellfish beds. The program shall also include the purchase of managem…

Sec. 26-237b. Shellfish Fund. (a) There is established and created a fund to be known as the “Shellfish Fund”. The proceeds of any bonds authorized for the purpose of section 26-237a and any private, state or federal grants or direct funding received or awarded for the purposes o…

Sec. 26-237c. License for the harvesting of oysters from state shellfish grounds. Section 26-237c is repealed, effective June 3, 2004, and applicable to calendar quarters commencing on and after July 1, 2004. (P.A. 87-426, S. 3; P.A. 88-291, S. 2, 6; P.A. 91-236, S. 21, 25; P.A. …

Sec. 26-237d. Municipal collection of sea water samples for shellfish harvest water classification. (a) The Department of Agriculture may, upon written request of a municipality, enter into a memorandum of understanding with such municipality to authorize the health department or…

Sec. 26-237e. Resource assessment permits. Section 26-237e is repealed, effective June 4, 2024. (P.A. 07-74, S. 5; P.A. 24-100, S. 5.)

Sec. 26-238. Town oyster ground committee. Section 26-238 is repealed. (1949 Rev., S. 5069; P.A. 86-225, S. 15.)

Sec. 26-239. Certain grants of oyster, clam and mussel grounds valid. Any grant of oyster, clam or mussel ground, made by the duly constituted state or town authorities, which is not in territory that has been designated as natural oyster ground by the General Assembly or by the …

Sec. 26-240. Town ground; designation; designation requirements and prohibitions; hearing. (a) Any person desiring to plant or cultivate oysters, clams or mussels, in any waters within town jurisdiction, may apply in writing, to the shellfish commission or to selectmen authorized…

Sec. 26-241. Name of owner to appear on stakes, buoys and markers. Buoy specifications. (a) All stakes, buoys or other markers placed by any person, except buoys placed by the state, so as to mark the divisional line, in whole or in part, between any private and any public or nat…

Sec. 26-242. Granting of designation; condition precedent. No shellfish commission or selectmen shall grant any designation of ground for the planting or cultivation of oysters, until the applicant for such ground has shown them a certificate from the town clerk that the ground h…

Sec. 26-243. Evidence of designation to be recorded. The selectmen of each town in which places have been designated in its navigable waters for planting or cultivating oysters, clams or mussels shall provide a book, to be kept by the town clerk, for recording all applications fo…

Sec. 26-244. Lost title; redesignation. Penalty. Any owner of any such place who has lost the evidences of his title, after filing the same with the town clerk, may apply to the shellfish commission of the town in which such place is situated, and in East Haven and West Haven to …

Sec. 26-245. Fees of shellfish commissions. A shellfish commission may establish a fee for a description of grounds designated for planting and cultivating oysters and a fee to be paid to each member for each day occupied in making such designation. (1949 Rev., S. 5080; P.A. 86-2…

Sec. 26-246. Designation of disputed lines in local jurisdiction. When the boundaries of lands or grounds not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the state, lawfully designated for the planting or cultivation of oysters, clams or mussels, between adjoining proprietors, have been…

Sec. 26-247. Removal of beds improperly staked. When any natural oyster or clam bed, or any part thereof, within town jurisdiction, has been designated, enclosed or staked out, contrary to the provisions of this chapter, the superior court for the judicial district in which such …

Sec. 26-248. Procedure to dam creek or inlet. When the owner of any land in which there is any saltwater creek or inlet desires to dam, gate or lock the same for any oyster pond, for the cultivation of oysters, he may make application therefor to the selectmen of the town or the …

Sec. 26-249. Private ownership in cultivated shellfish. Each person who plants or cultivates oysters, clams or mussels, in any place lawfully designated, shall own them and also all other oysters, clams or mussels on such place, and have the exclusive right of taking up and dispo…

Sec. 26-250. Taxation of town ground. Section 26-250 is repealed, effective October 1, 2021. (1949 Rev., S. 5085; P.A. 21-24, S. 5.)

Sec. 26-251. Natural clam beds not to be designated. No shellfish commission or selectman of any town shall designate, and no person shall mark, stake out or enclose, for the cultivation of oysters, clams or mussels, any natural clam bed. (1949 Rev., S. 5086; P.A. 86-225, S. 10.)…

Sec. 26-252. Taking of hard or round clams; size. No rake, tongs, dredge or other device shall be used for taking hard or round clams in any of the waters of this state, with spaces or openings between the teeth or prongs of less than one inch, and no such clams less than one inc…

Sec. 26-253. Trespass on designated ground. Any person who wilfully commits any trespass or injury with eel spears or other implements on any designated oyster ground on which oysters are being cultivated shall have committed an infraction. (1949 Rev., S. 5117; P.A. 78-334, S. 15…

Secs. 26-254 and 26-255. Catching of shellfish on bridge pier. Plowing for shellfish along Long Island Sound. Sections 26-254 and 26-255 are repealed. (1949 Rev., S. 5118, 5119; P.A. 78-334, S. 17.)

Sec. 26-256. Injury to pond gates and dams. Any person who injures the dams or gates of any oyster pond shall have committed an infraction. (1949 Rev., S. 5120; P.A. 86-225, S. 13.) History: P.A. 86-225 eliminated fine and imprisonment penalties and specified that injury to dams …

Sec. 26-257. Local shellfish grounds under state control. When shellfish grounds or franchises located within the limits of the towns of West Haven, New Haven, Milford and Westport, and northerly of the state jurisdiction line, have been surveyed, and a map of the same made and a…