Big news, all those who had “start clamming and shellfishing” on their 2026 new things to try list. For the first time in more than a century, shellfish harvested from the outer reaches of Boston Harbor are officially back on the menu. State officials announced this week that clams, oysters, and other shellfish from designated outer harbor waters are now safe to eat, lifting restrictions that have been in place since a 1925 typhoid outbreak.
See the announcement below:
In 1925, a national typhoid epidemic caused by the consumption of contaminated oysters led to the closure of almost all of Boston Harbor to shellfishing. Since then, only specially licensed harvesters have been permitted into certain areas to access moderately contaminated softshell clams destined for a shellfish purification facility. This is about to change.
Thanks largely to the multi-billion-dollar clean-up of Boston Harbor, water quality has improved enough to reclassify certain areas of the harbor to Conditionally Approved, allowing shellfishing for direct human consumption. These areas include some of the most productive shellfish habitats in the Commonwealth in parts of Winthrop, Hingham, and Hull. This will allow both commercial and recreational shellfishers to harvest shellfish for their personal use or direct sale into commerce for the first time in a century. Not only will this be a tremendous boon to residents of the three towns, but also to other Massachusetts residents interested in recreational shellfishing.
Although some of these areas have been harvested over the years on a limited basis, the product (soft-shelled clams) was required to be sent to DMF’s shellfish depuration plant in Newburyport, where the clams were purified before they could go to market. While the depuration process makes shellfish safe to eat, it is expensive, labor intensive, and is limited to a few specially trained and certified commercial harvesters. As such, most residents of the Commonwealth could not benefit from this fishery. Reclassification in Boston Harbor will eliminate the need for this highly regulated and controlled process and allow this bountiful public resource to benefit the general public…