March 26, 2026 — The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has declared parts of Boston Harbor clean enough for recreational shellfishing for the first time in a century. Since many shellfish are filter feeders that pump water through their gills, waterborne contaminants tend to build up in their bodies, making them bellwethers for overall water health. If the shellfish are free of pollutants, it’s a sign the water is cleaner.
Shellfishing will soon be allowed in some areas off the coasts of Winthrop, just northeast of the city, and in Hingham and Hull, two towns on the southern end of the harbor. Residents will have to wait for the towns to create regulations, and shellfishing might still be prohibited during times of low water quality, such as after heavy rains. Still, a region with a legendary reputation for fresh, high-quality seafood has reason to celebrate. (Try an authentic clam chowder recipe.)
“It speaks a lot to all of the hard work that was done to clean up the harbor, to make quality of life [better] for not only the people that live here, but also the marine life,” says Joanne Coletta-Levine, a spokesperson for Schooner’s, a seafood restaurant in Hull.
Cities and states across the country have worked to clean up waterways since 1972, when the Clean Water Act made it illegal to discharge pollution into water without a federal permit. Between 1972 and 2001, the share of U.S. waterways clean enough for fishing increased by more than 10 percentage points, according to a 2018 study in the Quarterly Journal of Economics that analyzed some 50 million water samples.