This week, having previously pressed criminal charges against the warden, David Greene, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, filed a lawsuit in Plymouth Superior Court, arguing that Kenneth Pacheco, the former deputy shellfish warden of Mattapoisett, and the town violated his right to fish “without interference, obstruction, or regulation by any governmental authority other than the sovereign Wampanoag Tribe.’’
In 1999, four years after Greene was convicted of violating shellfish regulations in Bourne, the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a ruling by the Massachusetts Appeals Court, which overturned his conviction and found that Greene, as a Wampanoag, possessed “aboriginal rights to fish even in the absence of treaty protection,’’ according to the lawsuit.
Michael Gagne, administrator of Mattapoisett, said the town requires those fishing in its waters to obtain licenses that regulate the number of clams they can catch, their size, where and when they seek them, and what methods they use.
“The criteria we use tries to encourage the perpetuation of the stock, so people can continue to enjoy them for years to come,’’ he said.
Read the complete story from The Boston Globe.