Chapter 131

Section 1. In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words shall have the following meanings and the following rules of construction shall apply:— ''Angling'', fishing with hand line or rod, with a hook baited with natural or artificial bait. ''Assista…

Section 10. Whenever such wildlife sanctuary has been established by an order as provided in section nine, no person, except as authorized by the director under clause (2) of section four, shall hunt, trap or take any bird or mammal within said sanctuary, nor shall any person ent…

Section 10A. The executive office of environmental affairs, the department or any other division of the department within said executive office may designate as qualifying as a nature preserve any real property owned by the commonwealth and under the care and control of said depa…

Section 10B. A nature preserve council, hereinafter referred to as the council, shall be established and shall consist of seven members who shall be appointed by the secretary of the executive office of environmental affairs, four of whom shall be members of the natural heritage …

Section 10C. A nature preserve established pursuant to section ten A shall be released in a manner consistent with the provisions of the constitution of the commonwealth. The division shall, in consultation with any other department or division within the executive office of envi…

Section 10D. The division shall consult with the nature preserve council in implementing and effectuating the nature preserve program established pursuant to sections ten A to ten C, inclusive. The division shall promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate said nature preserve…

Section 11. A person shall not fish in any inland waters of the commonwealth, unless he is a minor under fifteen years of age, nor hunt or trap any bird or mammal except as otherwise provided in sections four, fourteen, fifteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-three and thirty-seven w…

Section 12. Upon the application of any person entitled to receive a sporting, hunting, fishing or trapping license and upon payment of the fee specified therefor in this chapter, and the furnishing of an affidavit by any non-resident desiring to be classified under the first par…

Section 13. Nothing in section four or sections eleven to sixteen, inclusive, shall be construed as affecting in any way the general laws relating to trespass, or as authorizing the hunting or the possession of birds or mammals contrary to law, or the taking of fish or the posses…

Section 13A. Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall fish, trap, or hunt in the commonwealth without first having obtained a wildlands conservation stamp, which shall be issued by the director or his duly authorized agent upon the payment of five dollars; provided, howeve…

Section 14. It shall be unlawful for any resident or non-resident to hunt for any bird or mammal in the commonwealth unless such person has successfully completed a hunter education course as prescribed by this section, or unless such person has held a license so to hunt, before …

Section 15. An executive or administrative public official of any state granting similar privileges to such an officer of this commonwealth may hunt any bird or mammal or may fish in any of the inland waters of the commonwealth if he holds a special complimentary certificate enti…

Section 16. Whoever loses or by mistake or accident destroys his license, permit, or certificate issued under this chapter may, upon application to the director, clerk of the city or town or any person duly authorized under the provisions of section twelve issuing the same, and u…

Section 17. Any city or town clerk or any person duly authorized by the director to issue licenses at their place of business located outside the commonwealth, provided such persons are duly bonded, issuing any license under authority of any provision of this chapter may, except …

Section 17A. Any city or town clerk issuing any license under the authority of any provision of this chapter shall, except as otherwise provided by law, charge a municipal processing fee of one dollar, and where applicable retain such fee; provided, however, that such fee shall b…

Section 17B. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law, or rule or regulation to the contrary, no city or town clerk shall be required to sell the licenses established under this chapter. Each city or town clerk shall, on or after July first of each year, give …

Section 18. The director, each city or town clerk and each person duly authorized under the provisions of section twelve shall make a record in books kept therefor of all licenses issued by him, respectively, and shall indicate on each license the date and time of issue; and, exc…

Section 19. A person shall not put into any of the inland waters of the commonwealth any species of fish or spawn thereof unless he possesses a valid license so to do issued under section twenty-three, or unless he has secured the written approval of the director. A person shall …

Section 19A. A person shall not bring or cause to be brought into the commonwealth any live bird or mammal protected by this chapter, or any member of the family sciuridae of the order rodentia or any member of the order lagomorpha or any other member of the group vertebrata, wil…

Section 19B. Any person authorized under section 4 to take and possess mammals may transport them within the commonwealth for the purpose of euthanasia. A person authorized under this chapter to take and possess birds, reptiles, amphibians or mammals shall not put an animal to de…

Section 19C. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: ''Covered animal'', any of the following animals or hybrids thereof: (i) elephantidae; (ii) lions (panthera leo), tigers (panthera tigris…

Section 1A. The division of fisheries and wildlife shall be within the department of fisheries, wildlife and environmental law enforcement in the executive office of environmental affairs and shall be under the supervision and control of the fisheries and wildlife board, hereinaf…

Section 1B. Board members may be removed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, after due notice and a hearing before the governor, for inefficiency, neglect of duty, misconduct in office or other cause. A copy of the charge against a board member shall be d…

Section 1C. No board member shall hold any other position in the department of fisheries, wildlife and environmental law enforcement while serving as such, nor for a period of one year thereafter.

Section 1D. The board members shall serve without compensation, but shall be entitled to be reimbursed out of any funds available for the purpose, for their actual traveling and other expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their official duties, but such reimbursemen…

Section 1E. The members of the board shall meet in the commonwealth, within thirty days after their appointment, and once a month thereafter at such times and places in the commonwealth as they may from time to time determine. They shall at least annually choose a chairman and a …

Section 1F. The director of the division of fisheries and wildlife shall be appointed and may be removed by the board of the division of fisheries and wildlife and the position of director shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one. The director, subject to the …

Section 1G. The director shall, under the control of the board, have charge of, direct and supervise all matters relative to the division and the employees therein. He shall carry out the policies promulgated from time to time by the board, shall prepare the annual budget of the …

Section 1H. There shall be in the division of fisheries and wildlife, under the control of a director, a bureau of wildlife research and management headed by a superintendent, who shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one and who shall be appointed by the direc…

Section 1I. It shall be the responsibility of the division to provide technical assistance and advice regarding the control or elimination of damage by moose or deer to property which is deemed to be actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural uses as defined by sections on…

Section 20. Upon application to the director by an incorporated or unincorporated club or organization having a membership of citizens who have been residents of the commonwealth for at least six consecutive months immediately prior to making application, and upon payment of a fe…

Section 21. Except as provided in sections 21A, 70, 81 and 82, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit the training of hunting dogs, so-called, or conducting or engaging in a field trial with such dogs; provided, however, that except during other open seasons promu…

Section 21A. It shall be unlawful to pursue or hunt bear or bobcat with the aid of a dog. It shall be unlawful to hunt bear by the aid of baiting or knowingly to hunt bear in a baited area. ''Baiting'' means the placing, exposing, depositing, distributing, or scattering of any su…

Section 22. A person, except as provided in sections twenty-three to twenty-eight, inclusive, shall not buy, sell, barter, exchange, offer or expose for sale or have in his possession for the purpose of sale, or in any way deal in or trade with respect to, any trout, salmon, horn…

Section 22A. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections twenty-two, twenty-three and twenty-four, the director, with the approval of the fisheries and wildlife board, may make, alter, amend and rescind rules and regulations relative to the disposition of deer killed by means othe…

Section 23. Except as otherwise provided by this section or any rule or regulation made under the authority thereof, a person shall not engage in the propagation, cultivation, or maintenance of, or the dealing in, fish, birds, mammals, reptiles, or amphibians, or parts thereof, a…

Section 24. The director, upon written application to him, may issue to any person a dealer's license under clause (6) of section twenty-three, authorizing the holder thereof to engage in the business of buying, selling or offering for sale, for food purposes, the carcasses, or p…

Section 25. Except as provided in sections four and twenty-three, a person shall not have in his possession at any time a live bird or mammal other than those named in section five, or a live reptile or amphibian. Birds and mammals had in possession under any license issued under…

Section 25A. If the director, upon examination of any fish, bird, mammal, reptile or amphibian held in possession either by persons licensed or required to be licensed under the provisions of section twenty-three, except dealers licensed both under clause (4) of section twenty-th…

Section 25B. If the director, by examination of a case of contagious or infectious disease or parasite of any fish, bird, mammal, reptile or amphibian, has imposed a quarantine as provided in section twenty-five A, and is of the opinion that the public good so requires or that th…

Section 25C. Any fish, bird, mammal, reptile or amphibian which has been quarantined or isolated by order or notice of the director as authorized by section twenty-five A, shall, during the continuance of such quarantine or isolation, be deemed to be afflicted with a contagious o…

Section 26. Any fish, birds, mammals, reptiles or amphibians lawfully taken or lawfully propagated without the commonwealth may be purchased by any dealer licensed under section twenty-three; provided, that the export and sale is lawful in the state, province or country in which …

Section 27. The director is hereby authorized to issue a taxidermist's license, upon payment of a fee, the amount of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven for the filing thereof, to any per…

Section 28. A person shall not purchase or receive the skins or pelts of any fur-bearing mammals unless he has obtained a fur buyer's license from the director, which licenses the director is hereby authorized to issue to the following classes of persons upon payment of fees, the…

Section 29. Sections nineteen, nineteen A and twenty-two to twenty-eight, inclusive, shall not apply to those zoos approved by the United States department of agriculture. Natural history associations and museums, or zoos not approved by the United States department of agricultur…

Section 2A. There is hereby established within the Inland Fisheries and Game Fund, a wildland acquisition account which shall be credited monies received from the sale of wildland conservation stamps, the portion of the fees for sporting, fishing, trapping and hunting licenses to…

Section 2B. The state treasurer shall receive and deposit all revenues transmitted to him under provisions of sections 2A and 2C in such a manner that will ensure the highest rate of interest available consistent with the safety of the Inland Fisheries and Game Fund, and all inte…

Section 2C. Monies received by the commonwealth from license fees, permit fees and from any and all sources pertaining to inland fishing, hunting and trapping from permit fees under section 22A, from any sale authorized in section 6 and sums received by the commonwealth from the …

Section 3. All fines, penalties and forfeitures recovered in prosecutions under the laws relative to fish, birds and mammals shall be equally divided between the county where such prosecution is made and the city or town where the offence is committed; provided, that if the compl…

Section 30. Notwithstanding the provisions of section fifty or of any other provision of this chapter, the director may issue permits upon the receipt of a fee, the amount of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section t…