Narraguagus River



1821 -- An Act to Prevent the Obstruction of Narraguagus River. Laws of the State of Maine. Chapter LXXX.

Text of Act:

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in Legislature assembled, That if any person or persons shall throw any slabs, stumps, trees or brush into the Narraguagus River, whereby said River may be obstructed to the injury of any citizens of the State, he or they shall forfeit and pay for each offence, a sum not exceeding fifteen dollars, nor less than five dollars, to any person who will sue for the same and also shall be liable to pay all damages which any individual may suffer by reason of such obstructions, in an action of the case, in any Court proper to try the same.

This Act Passed March 19, 1821."


1828 -- An Act to regulate the taking of Fish in Narraguagus River. Laws of the State of Maine. Chapter DIII.

Text of Act:

"Sect. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in Legislature assembled, That the Inhabitants of towns and plantations adjoining Narraguagus River, or through which said river runs, be, and they are hereby respectively empowered, at their annual town or plantation meetings, in the month of March or April, in each year, to choose a committee of not more than five or less than three persons in each town or plantation, who shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of their duty; and it shall be their duty to cause the necessary fishways, in their respective towns and plantations, to be kept open and free for the passage of salmon, shad and alewives up said river, from sunset on Friday till sunrise on Monday, from the tenth day of May to the tenth day of August, in each year; and they shall have the power to remove all obstructions which they may find in said river, and to pass over the lands of any person, through or by which said river runs, in the discharge of their duties without being considered trespassers. And any person hindering or molesting said committee, or either of them, in discharge of their or his duty in said office, or who shall obstruct any passage way in said river, during the term aforesaid, he or they so offending, shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding twenty dollars nor less than five dollars. And if any town or plantation shall neglect to choose said Committee, such town or plantation shall forfeit a sum, not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars, to the use of any individual who may prosecute for the same.

"Sect. 2. Be it further enacted, That there shall be a good and sufficient fishway made and completed around, through or over, every mill dam on said river and the branches thereof, where said fish were ever known to pass, by the owners or occupants of the mills on said river, which shall be four foot wide and twelve inches deep, and be kept open at all times specified in the first section of this Act: And if any owner or occupant of such mill or dam, as aforesaid, shall neglect or refuse to make and keep open such fishway, as herein directed, he shall forfeit two hundred dollars, for each neglect or refusal.

"Sect. 3. Be it further enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act, if any person or persons shall take said fish in any of the waters of said river, with any large net or seine, or with spears, scoop nets, or in wears, except between sunrise on Monday and sunset on Wednesday, during the term aforesaid, he or they shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than five nor more than twenty dollars for every barrel or less quantity of siad fish, so taken, against the provisions of this Act.

"Sect. 4. Be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for said towns and plantations respectively, in legal town meeting, to sell and dispose of the privilege of taking said fish for any term not exceeding one year, at any one time, to any person or persons, under such restrictions and regulations as said towns and plantations shall respectively direct, and the profits arising from such sale shall be appropriated to such purposes as the inhabitants of said towns and plantations shall respectively order. And if any person or persons other than those to whom the towns and plantations have sold said privilege, shall take any of the fish, he or they shall forfeit and pay a sum not more than twenty nor less than five dollars.

"Sect. 5. Be it further enacted, That all the penalties which may be incurred by any breach of this Act, shall be recovered by action on the case before any Justice of the Peace for the county of Washington, where the penalty does not exceed twenty dollars, and if the penalty exceeds said sum, then in any court proper to try the saame, by any one of said Committee, or by any inhabitant of the town or plantation, wherein the said offence shall have been committed, the one half to the use of said town or plantation, and the other half to the use of the person, who shall prosecute for the same; and no person, by reason of his being one of said committee or an inhabitant of said town or plantation, shall be disqualified from being a witness in any suit or prosecution for any breach of this Act: Provided, That all prosecutions for breaches of this Act, shall be commenced within sixty days from the time said offence is alleged to have been committed, and not afterwards.

"Sect. 6. Be it further enacted, That all Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act be, and the same hereby are, repealed.

Approved by the Governor, January 31, 1828."


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