Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XIX Chapter 130
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 130, § 12 (2026)

Seizure and forfeiture of fish unlawfully taken, boats and apparatus; sale; proceeds

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 12. All fish unlawfully taken, held, possessed or dealt with contrary to any provision of this chapter or of any rule or regulation made under authority thereof, and all boats, vehicles and apparatus used therein, may, in addition to any or all of the penalties contained therein, be seized, libelled and forfeited to the commonwealth.

Whenever seizure and confiscation or forfeiture is provided by any provision of this chapter, unless another procedure is therein indicated such confiscation or forfeiture shall be according to the provisions of chapter two hundred and fifty-seven. Fish so seized except shellfish apparently taken from an area determined under section seventy-four or corresponding provisions of earlier laws to be contaminated, and except fish seized under the provisions of section eighty-nine, may be so libelled or, at the discretion of the director, be disposed of by him for the best interests of the commonwealth, or, in the alternative, be sold at private sale or public auction, and the net proceeds of such sale may be libelled in the same manner and with the same effect as if such proceeds were the property itself, unless the person named in the warrant or some person in his behalf shall before the commencement of such libel or sale request that the fish be preserved until final action is had thereon. Shellfish apparently taken from an area determined to be contaminated as aforesaid, and fish seized under the provisions of section eighty-nine, shall be disposed of by the director in such manner as will prevent the use thereof as food.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1980–2025 · leading case: Commonwealth v. One 1976 Cadillac DeVille Auto., 403 N.E.2d 935 (Mass. 1980).
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Commonwealth v. One 1976 Cadillac DeVille Auto., 403 N.E.2d 935 (Mass. 1980). “” The chapter is of long standing and the Legislature could have referred to it in enacting c. 94C in 1971, but did not.”
Commonwealth v. One (1) Check in the Amount of $480.00 for 1,600 Pieces of Wild Oysters (Crassostrea Virginica) (Mass. App. Ct. 2025). · cites it 5× “This case involves the civil forfeiture of wild oysters pursuant to G. L. c. 130, § 12, and G. L. c. 257, statutes that have not yet been applied in our published case law.”
Joaquim v. One 17 Foot Fiberglass Outboard Powered Boston Whaler, 1991 Mass. App. Div. 129 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 1991). “dwelling house, any motor vehicle, or any other personal property in which he has reasonable cause to believe, and does believe, that fish taken, held, kept, possessed, transported or held for transportation or sale in violation of the law, may be found, and may seize any such…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.