Editorial: Tribal members retain rights to fish in Massachusetts

Wednesday, April 6, 2011  

"If the state would get the word out that tribe members aren’t subject to state or local fishing regulations, there wouldn’t be any ugly scenes like the one last fall between a Mashpee Wampanoag clam digger and a Town of Mattapoisett shellfish warden challenging him for using an outsized quahog basket. The confrontation between tribe member David Greene and the town official ended in shouting and pushing, with Greene saying in a suit filed last month that the official and the town had violated his right to fish as he pleased.

Greene would know. Twelve years ago, state courts overturned his previous conviction for a shellfishing violation in Bourne. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed that tribe members had a right to fish predating the arrival of European settlers."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Clam digging: Enforce tribal rights (The Boston Globe 4/6)

Mashpee Wampanoag man sues town in fishing rights dispute (4/1)