It’s been a little over hundred years since residents or fishermen were able to catch shellfish safe to eat in the Boston Harbor. That was back when Boston sports fans were only beginning to realize the “curse of the Bambino” and there were mostly docks in the neighborhood now known as the Seaport.
But now, the state has declared that shellfish from parts of Boston Harbor can be safely caught and eaten again.
“Iconic shellfish and clams now becoming available for people is really an incredible moment to be celebrated,” said Tom O’Shea, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game.
Harvesting in the harbor was banned almost entirely in 1925 after contaminated oysters led to a national typhoid epidemic. In the decades since, Boston Harbor has undergone a multi-billion dollar clean-up.
“It’s really a landmark case of showing how environmental cleanup can really matter to our way of life,” O’Shea said.
Up until now, only licensed commercial harvesters have been able to fish in certain areas of the harbor. Their catches went through a purification process before being sold and eaten.
Earlier this month, state officials updated the classification for parts of the outer harbor near Hingham, Hull and Winthrop to “conditionally approved” — meaning residents and commercial harvesters alike will soon be able to collect shellfish from those areas.
Hingham harbormaster Ken Corson said it’s great news for recreational harvesters, and he expects areas in his town to be open for harvesting this summer.
“What it means is that they’re going to be able to go out into the harbor and potentially dig a small number of clams that they might be able to find that day and enjoy them at their house,” Corson said.
The three towns will come up with their own harvesting regulations, in connection with the state. Wayne Castonguay, the Gloucester shellfish supervisor for the state, said he hopes they all can be put in place this year.
State officials will test the newly opened areas monthly to make sure the waters are still healthy and safe. Castonguay said the National Shellfish Sanitation Program, which was created in 1925 in response to the typhoid epidemic, sets the standards for shellfish consumption across the country.
He said the program has “the most strict” and detailed food safety standards in the country — “ if not the world.”
Because of that, he said, “The public can be assured that the shellfish are absolutely safe to consume from those areas.”
That’s important, especially considering the water’s reputation. The Standells’ 1966 hit celebrated Boston’s “dirty water” and by the 1980s, the polluted bay gained the nickname “the Harbor of Shame.” Many fish had documented liver disease and cancerous tumors, according to research from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.
But for chef Jeremy Sewall, that’s in the past. He’d like to see more shellfish from the harbor on his menu.
“ I’m genuinely excited about it,” he said.
Sewall owns a seafood restaurant just blocks away from the harbor, called Row 34. When asked if he thinks it’ll be difficult to fight against the harbor’s bad image, he sad no.
“ I think by the time somebody sits down in a seat in my restaurant, they hopefully have faith that we’re doing the right thing,” Sewall said.
Liv Woods, who leads the nonprofit Massachusetts Oyster Project, is also celebrating the expansion of shellfish harvesting, but said this is just the first step. Her organization works to rebuild oyster habitats across the state.
She said just because the water is now healthy enough for shellfishing, “it doesn’t mean that these areas are all plentiful of shellfish.”
Shellfish habitats have been hit hard by human activity across the world. Woods said the next step is making sure the shellfish have sustainable homes as more people look to harvest them.
“There’s also a lot of work on the re-building and re-restoration side that needs to happen,” Woods said.
Massachusetts is working on this. Last August, state officials set goals to halt and reverse loss of biodiversity in the state. This includes restoring 75% of wildlife habitats, including for marine life, by 2050.
In the meantime, the state hopes to open more parts of the harbor to harvesting in the coming years.
“It’s a way people connect to nature as well as connecting to how our coast is bringing food to us,” O’Shea said.
WBUR’s Fausto Menard contributed to this report.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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