321 CMR, § 4.09
Fish retained in captivity and dependent on humans for care may not be capable of surviving in the wild if problems arise and they are liberated by those who had attempted to care for them. The result is an animal that may suffer a lingering fate prior to death and may be a potential danger to the public or the aquatic environment. The purpose of 321 CMR 4.09 is to prevent not only the potential public menace, disease, or damage to the environment which may result when the fish are liberated, but to protect them from the potential for needless or unnecessary suffering as well. Thus, the scope of 321 CMR 4.09 is to (a) regulate the taking from the wild, possession, propagation, purchase, receipt or sale of protected fish intended to be kept by any person in Massachusetts; (b) define specific categories for which licenses may be issued for the possession, maintenance, propagation or culture, or sale of protected fish; (c) establish minimum requirements for the possession, maintenance and culture or propagation of protected fish; (d) establish administrative procedures for the initial issuance and subsequent renewal of licenses, and (e) otherwise implement the licensing provisions of M.G.L. c. 131, § 23.
Aquaculture means the propagation, culture and maintenance of fish for the purpose of selling such fish or a product derived from such fish in the regular course of business, or the culture of fish pursuant to a class 1 or class 2 license, but not including the scientific or educational propagation, culture and maintenance of fish, or the sale of exempt live fish as pets in a pet shop as regulated pursuant to M.G.L. c. 129.
Aquarium means a permanent site or a permanent location of less than 4356 square feet of surface area where a collection of living nondomesticated animals are maintained for regular exhibition to the public or as pets, and includes a zoo as defined in 321 CMR 2.12(2).
Class 1 - Class 3, and Class 6 Licenses means respectively licenses issued under authority of clauses 1 through 3, and clause 6, M.G.L. c. 131, § 23.
Culture means to use an artificial or enhanced natural environment in order to induce growth, development, or reproduction.
Director means the Director of the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife or his agents.
Division means the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, 251 Causeway Street, Boston, MA 02114 (telephone 617-626-1590).
Educational Use means a use or uses as contained in a course of training, of any extent or duration, and which pertains to the acquisition, development, or maintenance of a person's moral, intellectual, vocational, and physical faculties, insofar as such course of training shall relate to fisheries or wildlife, and the habitats, ecological relationships, or the environment thereof.
Expansion means an increase in the area used to hold fish during culture or maintenance.
Fish means any vertebrate of the classes Cyclostomata or Osteichtheyes not otherwise exempted in the exemption list found at 321 CMR 9.01, and shall additionally include the parts, spawn and viable eggs thereof.
Gender means, unless the context requires otherwise, that words importing the masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter.
Maintain means that fish are kept in indoor or outdoor confinement by a person or otherwise held under artificial conditions which allows exclusive control over them. Fish which are maintained remain in the same physical condition and life stage at which they were obtained by the permittee. Such fish may be supplied with food, or are otherwise cared for, but are not bred or allowed to reproduce.
Native means fish species that either occur or have occurred within Massachusetts, provided that the original occurrence of such species was not the result of deliberate or accidental introductions by humans.
Naturalized means fish species that have been introduced to Massachusetts by humans and have established selfsustaining populations.
Navigable Waters means all waters in creeks, coves, inlets, and arms of the sea or rivers that are:
Permit or License means a license issued pursuant to M.G.L. c. 131, § 23.
Person means any individual, corporation, partnership, trust, association or other private entity or any officer, agent, department or instrumentality of the federal government or any state or its political subdivisions, including but not limited to any agency, department, board, commission or authority thereof.
Propagate means the natural or artificial reproduction of fish.
Scientific Use means a use or uses concerned with the classification, formulation, verification, and documentation of various natural laws, principles, and events by induction, deduction, hypothesis, and experimentation, including, but not limited to, the collection, analysis, propounding, and display of data, whether written, recorded or otherwise, and of artifacts, specimens, and similar physical samples, and shall further relate generally to the physical world and its associated phenomena, and specifically to those branches of systematized knowledge categorized as zoology, botany, ecology, wildlife management, fisheries management, medicine, and veterinary medicine, or such other skills and disciplines which shall require such use or uses.
Class 3A or 3B aquaculture facilities, may, at the discretion of the Director, be inspected prior to issuance of the license and at any time thereafter to insure the well-being of the fish being propagated, the safeguarding of the aquatic environment of Massachusetts, and compliance with the provisions of 321 CMR 4.09. Class 1 and class 2 permittees and class 6 dealers shall, where applicable to the class of license, conform to the requirements specified in 321 CMR 4.09(4) and (18). Class 1 and class 2 facilities and class 6 dealers may, at the discretion of the Director, be inspected prior to issuance of the license and at any time thereafter to insure the well-being of the fish being propagated, the safeguarding of the aquatic environment of Massachusetts, and compliance with the provisions of 321 CMR 4.09.
321 CMR, § 4.09
Regulatory Authority: M.G.L. c. 131, §§ 23, 24, and 26.
Last Revised: 2016