Kennebec River Fishery Laws
1776 -- From the daily Journal of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
"A petition of Joseph Baker, setting forth, That the town of Ransford,
is situated on a river called Cobbiseconte, noted for one of the best streams
in those parts, for fishing; that Sylvester Gardiner has erected a mill
on said river, and thereby obstructed the passage of fish up the same, therefore
praying that a course may be made in said dam, for the fish to pass. Read,
and Voted, That the petitioner have leave to withdraw his petition."
Source: Journal of the Massachusetts House of Representatives at Maine Legislative
Law Library, Augusta, Maine.
1779 -- From the daily Journal of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
"A petition of the selectmen and committee of the town of Vassalborough,
in the county of Lincoln, praying that an Act may be passed to prevent the
destruction of fish in a brook called Majorgumagosek or Seven Mile brook
in that town. Read and committed to Col. Little, Capt. Mc Farland and Capt.
Adams."
Note: This entry is of interest because it provides the Indian name of Seven
Mile Stream in Vassalborough: Majorgumagosek.
Source: Journal of the Massachusetts House of Representatives at Maine Legislative
Law Library, Augusta, Maine.
1793 -- "Order on the Petition of the Inhabitants of the County
of Lincoln."
Full Text:
"On the Petition of a number of ye Inhabitants in the County of Lincoln,
praying that an act made July 16th 1789 Intitled an Act to prevent the distruction
& to regulate the catching of the fish, called, Salmon, Shad, &
Alewives, in the rivers & streams in the County of Cumberland &
Lincoln -- Be in its opperation so far suspended as it respects a stream
called mile brook issuing from a pond in or near the Northeast corner of
the Town of Vassalborough in said County of Lincoln, runing through said
Vassalborough & partly through the town of Winslow, & emptying into
the river Sebesticook about one mile above fort Halifax.
Ordered that the Petitioners cause the above mentioned petition with this
Order to be published six weeks in the Eastern Herald previous to the next
sessions of the General Court, that the Inhabitants or any other person
concerned, may shew cause if any they have, on the second Wednesday of the
next Sessions of the General Court why the Prayer of said petition should
not be granted.
September 24, 1793"
1805 -- "An Act Exempting Cobbossee Contee River in the Town of
Gardiner, From the Operation of All Laws Regulating the Salmon, Shad and
Alewife Fisheries."
Full Text:
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General
Court assembled, and by authority of the same -- That all laws heretofore
made, which regulate the fishery of Salmon, Shad and Alewives, in Cobbossee
Contee River, so called, within the town of Gardiner, in the County of Kennebec,
or that respect any mill-dam across said river, be so far repealed, that
from and after passing this Act, they shall cease to operate or have any
effect, so far as respects said river, or any part thereof."
Approved February 17, 1806
1807 -- Chapter LXXIV. "An act to regulate the taking of fish called
Alewives, in a part of Kennebeck River."
Full Text:
"Whereas, the fish called Alewives, are greatly impeded in their passage
up Seven Mile Brook, in the town of Vassalborough, by means of seins drawn
at the mouth of said brook, in Kennebeck River:
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court
assembled, and by the authority of the same, That from and after the passing
of this act, if any person shall by means of seins, or in any other manner
take any of the said fish called Alewives, in the river Kennebeck, at the
mouth of Seven Mile Brook, in the town of Vassalborough, or within ten rods
above, or sixty rods below the mouth of said Seven Mile Brook, at any time
in any week, except between the sunrise on Monday, and sunrise on Wednesday
in each week; the person so offending, shall forfeit and pay the sum of
ten dollars, for each and every time they shall draw a sein within the limits
aforesaid, on the days hereby prohibited; and one cent for each of said
fish taken in any other manner, to be recovered by the treasurer of said
town, and to the use of the inhabitants of said town of Vassalborough, in
an action of dept in any court proper to try the same. [This act passed
February 25, 1807]."
1818 -- Chapter CXXI. "An Act in addition to the several acts now
in force for the preservation of Salmon, Shad and Alewives within the Counties
of Cumberland, Lincoln, Kennebec and Oxford.
Excerpt:
"Sect. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives,
in General Court assembled, and by authority of the same, That the fines
mentioned in the fourth section of an act, passed on the first day of March
1798, shall henceforth be as followeth, viz: for each and every salmon,
caught contrary to the provisions of said act, and particularly described
in said fourth section, by any person living or being within the counties
of Cumberland, Lincoln, Kennebec and Oxford and Somerset, the person so
offending, shall forfeit and pay the sum of four dollars for each and every
salmon; for each and every shad taken in the same manner, one dollar, and
for each and every alewife, fifty cents ....
Sect. 3. Be it further enacted, That any person owning or occupying wears
or hedges, on any of the rivers, streams, bays, coves or ponds of water
within the counties aforesaid, from and after the tenth of July, in each
year, shall have an open space in each wing, curve, trap or pound of said
hedge or wear, in which salmon, shad or alewives, are at any time taken,
ten feet wide from top to bottom, in the deepest water, so as effectually
to let out all the fish, of every species, have a free passage out, without
being caught or taken; and the same passage ways or spaces to be kept open
through the remainder, so that all the small fish, or spawn, as well as
the large fish, shall have a free passage to the sea: and if any owner or
occupier of any wear or hedge, within the counties aforesaid, shall neglect
or refuse to make and keep open such passages or spaces therein, after the
tenth of July, in each year, such person or persons, so offending, shall
forfeit and pay a fine of ten dollars, for each day he or they shall thus
neglect their duty.
Sect. 4. Be it further enacted, That every person who shall drift or drag
any net or seine in the waters of Kennebec River, at Merry-meeting bay,
or in the Amareskoggin River, emptying into the same, so as to scrape the
bottom, disturb or destroy any of the spawn or young of the salmon, shad
or alewives, at any season of the year, he or they, so offending, shall
forfeit and pay a fine of ten dollars for each and every offence, and shall
moreover forfeit the net or seine and boat so used, to be disposed of according
to the law passed on the twenty-second day of February, seventeen hundred
ninety-four.
Sect. 5. Be it further enacted, That if any owner or occupier of any wear
or hedge within the counties aforesaid, between the twentieth day of April
and tenth day of July, annually, shall refuse or neglect to keep open a
free passage in each wing, curve, trap or pound in said hedge, where fish
are at any time taken, in the deepest water or channel, at least six feet
wide, and six feet high from the bottom of the flats, from sunrise on Saturdy
to sunrise on Monday of each week, so as to let every species of fish pass
out without being taken, he or they, so offending, shall forfeit and pay,
for each offence, the sum of twenty dollars ...."
Approved by the Governor, February 16, 1818.
1826 -- "An act to prevent destruction of fish in Sebasticook River."
"Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representative, in
Legislature assembled. That it shall be the duty of all persons owning or
interested in any mill dam, wear (weir), or other obstruction, that is already
made, or that shall be made hereafter, in the Sebasticook river, to provide
and maintain sufficient passage or sluice-way for the fish called salmon,
shad and alewives, to pass up and down with ease and convenience, in their
season of going to spawn and of returning; and to keep the same open and
clear of slabs and other obstructions, from the first day of May to the
fifth day of July annually, and from the twentieth day of August to the
last of September annually. And no person shall construct or keep up any
wear (weir) that shall extend more than one third of the way across said
river. And any person who shall offend against the provisions of this section,
shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than twenty, nor more than two hundred
dollars, to be recovered in an action of debt, by any inhabitant of any
town through which said river runs, one half to the use of such inhabitant,
and the other half to the use of the town to which he belongs. And it shall
be the duty of the Selectmen of said towns to see that the above provisions
are carried into effect.
"Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That if any person shall set any net,
seine or other machine, for the purpose of taking any of said fish in said
river, on the Saturday, Sunday or Monday of any week, he shall forfeit a
sum not exceeding ten dollars for every such offense. And every person who
shall take or catch any of said fish on either of those days, shall forfeit
for every salmon so taken, a sum not exceeding two dollars; for every shad,
a sum not exceeding one dollar; and for every hundred alewives, a sum not
exceeding two dollars. And the penalties prescribed in this section may
be recovered in an action of debt, by and to the use of any person who shall
sue for the same. And it shall be lawful to take fish in said river on any
other day in the week than those above mentioned; any law to the contrary
notwithstanding.
Approved by the Governor, March 6, 1826."
1827 -- "An additional Act respecting the passing of Fish in Seven
Mile Brook in Vassalborough."
Full Text:
"Sect. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
in Legislature assembled, That an act of the Legislature of Massachusetts,
passed March first, seventeen hundred ninety-eight, entitled 'An Act for
the Preservation of the fish called Salmon, Shad and Alewives, in the rivers,
streams and waters within the counties of Lincoln and Continental, and for
repealing all laws heretofore made for that purpose, so far as respects
their operation in said counties,' be, and the same hereby is, so far altered
and modified, as that the sluice ways and passages for fish, which are by
the act aforesaid required to be opened and kept open from the first day
of May to the fifth day of July annually, shall, as relates to Seven Mile
Brook in the town of Vassalborough, be required to be opened and kept open
such term of time only, between the first day of May and the fifth day of
July, as a majority of the fish wardens of said twon, for the time being
think necessary; and the penalties and liabilities provided in said act,
for not opening and keeping open such sluice ways or passages, shall not
be in force or held to operate until after twenty-four hours notice shall
have been given, by a majority of the fish wardens of said town, for the
time being; to some one of the owners or occupants of the dam or obstructions
through, or ner, which such sluice way or passage is required; that it is
necessary that it should be opened: And such notice may either be verbal
or in writing, given to either the owners or occupants aforesaid, and by
which all the owners and occupants of such dam or obstruction shadd be bound;
or it shall be deemed sufficient if such notice be written and posted up
in some conspicuous place on any mill or machinery building connected with
such dam or obstruction.
Sect. 2. Be it further enacted, That the acts now in force relating to the
Fishery of the Seven Mile Brook aforesaid, shall not be so construed as
to operate against the dams, or the owners thereof, now erectd, within sixty
rods of the mouth of said stream, nor to prevent the future maintenance
of said dams. Provided, Such owners shall cause a sufficient passage way
for fish to go through or over the same, to be opened and kept open as provided
in the first section of this Act.
Approved by the Governor, Feb. 17, 1827."
1828 -- Chapter CCCCXCIV. "An Act authorizing the owners of the
falls and mill privileges on Neguassett Falls to erect a dam thereon."
Full Text:
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in Legislature
assembled, That the owners of the falls and mill privileges known by the
name of Neguassett, in the town of Woolwich, in the county of Lincoln, are
hereby authorized to build a dam on said falls sufficient to preserve the
water of said stream for whatever purposes it may be applied. And all previous
laws for the opening of sluices or gates in the dam across Neguassett Falls
are hereby repealed."
Approved by the Governor, January 24, 1828.
1828 -- Chapter DLV. "An Act Regulating Fisheries at the mouth
of Kennebec River."
Full Text:
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in Legislature
assembled, That if any person or persons shall set or use any net or seine
for the purpose of catching Salmon on or by the shores or islands at the
mouth of the Kennebec River, below the Fort, of a greater length than eighty
fathoms, he or they shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than twenty nor
more than fifty dollars, to be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction,
one moiety thereof to the use of the person who may sue for the same, and
the other moiety to the use of the town where such offence shall be committed;
and Act to the contrary notwithstanding."
Approved by the Governor, February 23, 1828.
1828 -- "An Additional Act respecting the fishery in the Seven
Mile Brook in Vassalborough."
Excerpt:
"Sect 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives,
in Legislature assembled, That if any person or persons other than the committee
appointed by the town of Vassalborough, at their annual meeting, agreeably
to the provisions of law, or some person or persons by them employed, shall
take any salmon, shad or Alewives, in the Seven Mile Brook, so called, in
the town of Vassalborough, or shall obstruct or prevent the passage of said
fish up said Brook, he or they, so offending, shall forfeit and pay for
every such offence a sum not less than five or more than twenty dollars.
Sect. 2. Be it further enacted, That the owner or owners, occupant or occupants,
of any mill or mill dam on said Brook, shall (unless the Selectmen of said
town shall deem it inexpedient) be required to erect, keep up and maintain,
below their said dam, wears, racks, or other obstructions and impediments,
sufficient to prevent said fish from going under the mills; and such impediments
shall be so constructed as to direct said fish into the sluice ways; and
if any owner or owners, occupant or occupants as aforesaid, shall neglect
or refuse to erect, keep up and maintain such obstructions as aforesaid,
he or they shall forfeit and pay for every day they so neglect, during the
season said fish go up to spawn, the sum of ten dollars."
Sect. 4. Be it further enacted, That said committee of the town of Vassalborough
aforesaid, shall have the right to take or cause to be taken, for the term
of twenty years from the first day of May last, salmon, shad or alewives,
below the lower dam on said Brook, in such maner as they may judge most
beneficial to the inhabitants of said town, at any and all times, Sundays
excepted, when the fishways through said dam are not required by law to
be kept open; and if any person or persons shall wilfully or maliciously
impede or obstruct the taking of fish as aforesaid, he or they shall incur
a penalty of not less than five or more than twenty dollars for each and
every offence, any law to the contrary notwithstanding."
Approved February 18, 1828
1830 -- Chapter 100. "An Act to repeal the laws relating to the
Salmon, Shad and Alewive Fishery in the Kennebec, in the County of Kennebec."
Full Text:
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in Legislature
assembled, That all laws heretofore made, relating to the Salmon, Shad or
Alewive Fisheries, so far as the same are now in force, in the river Kennebec,
in the county of Kennebec, be, and the same are hereby repealed; excepting
the special laws relating to the fishery at seven mile brook, in the town
of Vassalborough; and excepting the Acts aforesaid, so far as they may affect
the taking of said fish, and the sluices for their passage, at Tyconic Falls,
at Waterville, in said county."
Approved March 15, 1830.
1831 -- Chapter 198. "An Additional Act to the Several Acts relating
to the taking of Salmon, Shad and Alewives in the Kennebec River."
Excerpt:
"Sect. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives,
in Legislature assembled, That all weirs and hedges now built or which shall,
hereafter be built in the Kennebec river for the purpose of taking Salmon,
Shad and Alewives shall be so altered and constructed as to afford a convenient
place for all young fish which may enter such weirs and hedges, which outlet
shall be in the form of net work, and the meshes not less than one inch
square, and the whole to be not less than eight feet wide, and four feet
high; and all gates which may be made the weirs and hedges for the purpose
of giving free passage to fish, instead of the dimensions now established,
shall be required to be three feet square only."
Approved March 31, 1831
Source for laws: Massachusetts Laws, Acts and Resolves (prior to 1820);
Maine Laws (after 1820). Available at Maine State Legislative Law Library,
State Capitol Building, Augusta, Maine.
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