Town of Swansea, MA Enforcement

In conjunction with the Board of Selectmen or its designee, the Shellfish Warden shall have the sole authority to open and close certain areas and regulate and/or prohibit the harvesting of certain types or all shellfish in certain areas, (authorized as open by The MA Dept. of Marine Fisheries), as the Warden/B.O.S. or its designee sees fit in the on-going management of these areas.

The foregoing provisions, rules and regulations shall be enforced by any Swansea Selectman, Police Officer, Reserve Police Officer, Shellfish Warden, or any Shellfish Deputy Warden and any other official the Board may designate as enforcing persons. Enforcing persons may, in their discretion, initiate criminal proceedings for any and all violations of these provisions, rules and regulations in which case the penalties shall be as provided in Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 130.

Alternatively, or in addition to initiating criminal proceedings, enforcing persons may refer violations of these provisions, rules and regulations to the Board. The Board shall notify the concerned licensee or permittee as to the time and place of a hearing at which the Board may, at their pleasure, suspend or revoke and cancel licenses and permits according to the following policy:

(1)

First Offense - Suspension of license or permit for 30 days, in which case the licensee or permittee shall not apply for any license or permit for 30 days. The fine for a Residential permit holder shall be $50 and the fine for a Commercial license holder shall be $100.

(2)

Second Offense - Suspension of license or permit for 60 days in which case the licensee or permittee shall not apply for any license or permit for 60 days. The fine for a Residential Permit holder shall be $100 and the fine for a Commercial license holder shall be $500.

(3)

Third Offense - In the event a third offense is incurred or a licensee or permittee otherwise shows total disregard for these provisions, rules or regulations, the board shall revoke and cancel the license or permit for a period of time as so determined by the Board not to exceed five years, in which case the licensee or permittee shall not apply for any license or permit for a period of time so determined by the board not to exceed five years.

(4)

Any person who is found to be in the act of harvesting shellfish without having first Procured a valid license or permit shall be penalized in accordance with Subsection C(1), (2) and (3) plus the cost of the applicable License or Permit.

(5)

The BOS has the right and capability to revoke or suspend for any amount of time or permanently any recreational, junior commercial or commercial shell fisherman's license at any hearing and for any reason they feel it calls for. They will have the ability to supersede the above Subsection C(1), (2) or (3) in such actions they deem fitting.

No fee received for a license or permit which has been suspended or revoked and cancelled shall be refunded.

These rules and regulations are made by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Swansea under the authority of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 130. These rules and regulations shall supersede any former Rules and regulations and shall remain in full force and effect until replaced or amended by the Board of Selectmen. Regarding dispute or conflict with this set or any prior set of regulations, this document shall be in force and be deemed controlling.

The Board shall reserve the right to rule on anything that is not specifically covered in these Rules and Regulations.

Observance of these rules and regulations is paramount in the preservation of shell fishing in our Town for years to come. Should any citizen observe any violation of these rules, they are encouraged to contact the enforcing authorities.