From Commonwealth v. One (1) Check in the Amount of $480.00 for 1,600 Pieces of Wild Oysters (Crassostrea Virginica), decided Friday by Massachusetts Appeals Court Justice Joseph Ditkoff, joined by Justices Kenneth Desmond Jr. and John Englander:
This case involves the civil forfeiture of wild oysters …. The fisherman and claimant, Cheenulka Pocknett, holds a valid commercial shellfishing permit issued by the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF). He is also a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and, as such, has certain rights to fish for sustenance.
On Wednesday, December 4, 2019, Pocknett and a friend took a large number of wild oysters from Green Pond in Falmouth. Green Pond is closed to commercial fishing on Wednesdays (as well as Sundays, Mondays, and Fridays). See Chapter 275, Arti