for and currently being implemented on some of the Harbor Islands are swimming, 
boating, camping, fishing, nature walks, and picnicking (Figure 6). 
On the economic front, Boston is a major international seaport, in fact, the 
busiest in New England. The Harbor has two deep water shipping lanes, President Roads 
and Nantasket Roads. The port of Boston includes 156 piers, wharfs and docks, and two 
container facilities. 
Other commercial activities in Boston Harbor include finfishing, lobster 
fishing, restricted clam harvesting, and yacht club and marina operations. Lobster is the 
predominant commercial fishery in Boston Harbor. Shellfish beds cover about 4,600 acres 
of Boston Harbor. Half of the area is presently closed to shellfishing because of bacterial 
contamination of the overlying waters. In remaining beds, shellfish may only be harvested 
by licensed master diggers, who must transport the shellfish to a depuration plant where 
shellfish are cleansed prior to sale. A recent estimate of the commercial value of the 
annual harvest of shellfish in the Harbor has been between five and six million dollars. 
Another recent estimate on the potential annual value on closed beds has been 
approximately four million dollars. Overflows and bypasses of raw sewage, poorly treated 
wastewater from treatment facilities, and storm drainage have all been implicated as 
sources of bacterial contamination in shellfishing areas around Boston Harbor (Figure 7). 
The Massachusetts Bay area is also a leader in high technology industries. 
Other important employment industries are education, medical centers, financial 
institutions, government, trade, and service industries. As was noted, shipping and fishing 
are major activities in the Bay as well as tourism in some of the old towns circling the 
Bay. 
Ocean fisheries have been important to Massachusetts 3ay since the earliest 
settlements. The fresh and frozen seafood industries developed in the 20th century with 
the introduction of otter trawling and the quick-freezing process. Flounder, cod, haddock, 
whiting, and ocean perch are the most important fish value. Scallops and shrimp are the 
chief shellfish. Of the two main fishing ports, Gloucester leads in shrimp, whiting, and 
ocean perch, and Boston Harbor in haddock and lobster. 
Manufacturing is the single most important source of wages and salaries 
statewide, although the number of jobs in this category and the share of total employment 
has declined since the end of World War II. Manufacturing still holds an important place 
in Massachusetts with electrical machinery manufacturing ranking first and nonelectrical 
manufacturing ranking second. 
As was indicated, Boston Harbor/Massachusetts Bay holds a rich cultural 
history and provides diversity in recreational experience and economic activity. This 
same diversity holds true for environmental parameters. Boston Harbor is a 
hydrodynamically complex embayment. Current strength, direction, and patterns are 
determined primarily by tidal stage, tidal amplitude, and locations of islands, channels, 
and shelf areas. Sedimentation patterns are correspondingly complex since sediments 
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