Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 130, § 44A

The director may, by regulation approved by the marine fisheries advisory commission and promulgated pursuant to chapter thirty A, establish a program to protect V–notched lobsters. For purposes of this section, the term ''V–notched lobster'' means a female egg-bearing lobster from which a V–shaped piece of tail has been cut from the first right flipper next to the middle flipper by a person holding or covered by a permit issued pursuant to section thirty-eight.