Coastal accessibility laws

[HESH2]

colonial law in mass went to court after fisherman arrested way out bay side on complaint by homeowner.guy was found to be guilty.

[numbskull]

In MA the office of the attorney general has a brochure about this.
The MA DMF was passing it out a RISSA or MSBA a few years ago.

You can not cross private land to access fishing.

Once you are on the beach, you can fish or walk to fish anywhere below the mean high tide mark (i.e., "wet sand").

You can legally cross man made obstructions in your path (i.e., jetties and seawalls), but you can't legally stop and fish from them.

[JackK]

I didn't know that about the jetties- good info.

I wonder if that's why that one fellow went to jail- if he crossed private property to fish. If I'm going to use the CO defense, I make sure I've accessed the beach by a public path.

Some more info:

Public Rights Along the Shoreline - Fact Sheet