LIS State Boundary

Connecticut State Boundary Line in Long Island Sound

Shoreline Fishing and Property Rights: While much of the Connecticut shore is privately owned, the coastal tidelands actually belong to all the people — not just in terms of our environmental and cultural heritage, but in a specific legal sense as well. Under the common law public trust doctrine, a body of law dating back to Roman times, coastal states (as sovereigns) hold the submerged lands and waters waterward of the mean high water line in trust for the public. The general public may freely use these intertidal and subtidal lands and waters, whether they are beach, rocky shore, or open water, for traditional public trust uses such as fishing, ­shellfishing, boating, sunbathing, or simply walking along the beach.