Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140 § 192
Such licenses shall be granted for a term of not more than one year, and shall be recorded by the clerk of the city or town where they are granted, who shall receive a fee of one dollar for recording each license, unless a different fee is otherwise established in a town by town meeting action and in a city by city council action, and in a town with no town meeting by town council action, by adoption of appropriate by-laws and ordinances to set such fees, but in no event shall any such fee be greater than twenty dollars. Every such license shall set forth the name of the steamboat or other boat, of the master and owner, and the number of passengers it is permitted to carry at any one time, with the number of life preservers that shall be carried. The license shall be posted in a conspicuous place therein, and the number of passengers specified in such license shall in no case be exceeded.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 192