(a) Subject to the provisions of federal laws pertaining to the proprietary rights of the Government of the United States, all beds and bottoms of navigable rivers, streams, lagoons, lakes, sounds, inlets, bays, roadsteads, harbors, oceans, seas or other bodies of water within the jurisdiction of the territory shall be the property of the territory except such as may be held under some grant or alienation heretofore made. No grant, sale, lease or other conveyance of any water bottom shall hereafter be made by the territory or any official thereof.
(b) Subject to the provisions of federal laws pertaining to the proprietary rights of the Government of the United States, all species of fish, mollusks, crustaceans, animals, plants and all other species comprising the marine, estuarine and freshwater fauna and flora within the jurisdiction of the territory, excluding all privately owned enclosed ponds not exceeding fifty (50) acres, are hereby declared to be the property of the Government of the United States Virgin Islands and of common ownership and public use. They may be freely fished, caught, utilized or traded, subject to the limitations of this chapter and the rules and regulations for its enforcement.