Definition
A several fishery is a private right to fish in a particular body of water, held either exclusively or to the exclusion of the general public, and grounded in ownership of or title derived from ownership of the soil beneath the water. The term "several" here does not mean multiple; it means separate or exclusive — the right is severed from the common and held as a distinct private interest.
Two formulations appear in the sources and both remain useful:
1. Ownership-based: The holder of a several fishery owns the bed of the water (or derives title from one who does), and the right to fish follows as an incident of that ownership.
2. Grant-based: A right to fish in private water may be granted as a several fishery even where the grantee does not own the soil, provided the right is exclusive against strangers — though not necessarily against the soil owner.
The practical core: a several fishery gives its holder the power to exclude others from fishing in the defined water, and supports an action at law for interference with that right.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A site where a person has an exclusive right of fishery, whether on his/her own property or another person's.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): No standalone entry; "several" in general usage meant separate, distinct, or individual — as opposed to joint or common.
The common usage of "several" to mean "more than two but not many" is the source of persistent confusion here. In the legal phrase "several fishery," the word carries its older sense of individual, private, and separate from common use. A researcher encountering the term for the first time may misread it as describing multiple fisheries rather than a singular, privately held one.
Common Confusion
Several fishery is most commonly confused with:
- Free fishery: A free fishery is a franchise right, typically held by royal grant, to fish in a public or navigable water. It does not require ownership of the soil and historically was available only to subjects by royal favor. A several fishery, by contrast, is grounded in property ownership or grant from the soil owner, not in royal franchise.
- Common of fishery (common fishery): A right held in common with others — the holder cannot exclude fellow commoners. A several fishery is the opposite: it is exclusive as against all others, or at minimum against the public at large.
- Piscary: Piscary (or common of piscary) is the right to fish in another's water in common with the owner. A several fishery may exist in another's water but is distinguished by its exclusive character.
Why It Matters in Research
Several fishery is a term of art in English real property law, carried into American law through Blackstone and Kent, and it appears almost exclusively in older property and water-rights materials. Researchers should note several navigational traps:
Historical layers: The term was well-settled in English common law by the eighteenth century but its American reception was uneven. Kent's Commentaries (3 Kent's Com. 410) and Blackstone (2 Bl. Comm. 39–40) are the primary channels through which the doctrine entered American jurisprudence. In states that developed distinct riparian or prior appropriation water law regimes, the English several fishery framework may appear in early cases only to be displaced or significantly modified by later statutory schemes.
Corpus connections: Several fishery sits at the intersection of property law (ownership of soil and water beds), water rights (riparian and littoral frameworks), and historical commons doctrine. Researchers tracing water rights, tidal land ownership, or public trust doctrine arguments will encounter this term as a baseline concept against which public rights are measured.
Bouvier's treatment: Bouvier's entry simply redirects to FISHERY, which means the full doctrinal content is embedded under that parent entry. Researchers relying on Bouvier must follow the cross-reference or they will miss the substance.
Burrill's precision: Burrill's entry, drawing on Crabb's Real Property, captures the dual character of the right — exclusive or in conjunction with the soil owner — which is a refinement Black's elides. This distinction matters when parsing historical grants that may not have conveyed full exclusivity.
Modern relevance: Though the precise term "several fishery" is rare in contemporary American caselaw, the underlying concept — private exclusive fishing rights attached to land ownership — remains litigated in the context of riparian rights, public access disputes, and regulatory takings claims involving waterfront property.
Historical Dictionary Support
The three source dictionaries converge on the core meaning — a private, exclusive fishing right tied to soil ownership — but differ in depth and framing.
Black's defines it cleanly by reference to soil ownership and cites Blackstone and Stephen's Commentaries, grounding the term firmly in English real property tradition. This is the most cited and most accessible formulation, but it underplays the possibility of a several fishery existing separate from soil ownership.
Burrill's, citing Crabb's Real Property and Kent's Commentaries, is the most precise of the three. It captures the Latin origin (separalis piscaria), confirms the soil-ownership connection, and adds the important qualification that the right may be held "in conjunction with the owner of the soil" — meaning a several fishery is not always fully exclusive even against the grantor. This is a meaningful doctrinal nuance that Black's omits.
Bouvier's provides no independent analysis, directing the reader to the parent entry FISHERY. For researchers using Bouvier as a primary source, this means the term's content is accessible only through that broader entry.
None of the three sources address American statutory modifications or the displacement of common-law fishery concepts by state-level water law reforms — a gap significant for any researcher working outside purely historical English or early American materials.
Jurisdictional Note
The several fishery doctrine derives from English common law and was most fully received in eastern American states with significant tidal or navigable waterway litigation. In western states operating under prior appropriation water regimes, the concept has little direct application. Even in common-law states, the English framework has been substantially modified by public trust doctrine developments and state riparian statutes, making direct transplantation of English authorities risky without checking local reception.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
The Law Mind Property Law Encyclopedia: Eminent Domain — Partial Takings and Severance Damages (property_113). Relevant for researchers analyzing whether interference with a several fishery constitutes a compensable taking of a property right.