No person shall hunt, take, kill or attempt to kill any duck, goose, brant, swan or other waterfowl or shore bird or wader protected by law, resting on or flying over the waters of Lake Wononscopomuc, or kill or attempt to kill any such bird within a distance of five hundred feet from the water level of said lake, except that when in the opinion of the first selectman and the conservation commission, waterfowl have reached numbers that are considered a nuisance or threaten to affect adversely the quality of the water of said lake, the chief executive officer of the town of Salisbury, acting as the issuing agent of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, may issue permits to hunt such waterfowl. Any person violating this section shall be fined not more than two hundred fifty dollars. The commissioner or any agent of the department may, within the discretion of said commissioner, take and kill wild animals or birds in or above said waters which the commissioner determines to be destructive of any wildlife protected by the provisions of this chapter.

(1953, S. 2553d; 1971, P.A. 872, S. 291; P.A. 75-325; P.A. 11-80, S. 1; P.A. 12-80, S. 31.)

History: 1971 act replaced references to board of fisheries and game and its agents with references to environmental protection commissioner and agents of environmental protection department; P.A. 75-325 increased distance which hunters of waterfowl must be from water level of lake from 200 to 500 feet and added exception for situations where waterfowl are so numerous as to threaten lake's water quality; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Department of Environmental Protection” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Department of Energy and Environmental Protection”, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 12-80 replaced penalty of a fine of not more than $100 or imprisonment of not more than 30 days or both with a fine of not more than $250.