January 9, 2025 — For nearly 100 years, most of Boston Harbor has remained closed to shellfishing for direct human consumption- a legacy of a 1925 national typhoid epidemic linked to contaminated oysters. In the decades since, only a small number of specially licensed harvesters were allowed into limited areas of the harbor to collect moderately contaminated soft-shell clams, which were required to be sent to a shellfish purification facility before entering the market.
That long-standing restriction is now on the verge of changing.
Thanks in large part to the multi-billion-dollar Boston Harbor clean-up, water quality has improved enough for portions of the harbor to be reclassified as Conditionally Approved, allowing shellfish to be harvested for direct consumption. The areas under consideration include some of the most productive shellfish habitats in the state, located in parts of Winthrop, Hingham, and Hull. Once reopened, both commercial and recreational shell fishermen will be able to harvest shellfish for personal use or direct sale for the first time in a century.