Credit: NOAA |
The past decade has not been kind to North Atlantic right whales — or to the fishers who ply the waters where these massive mammals dwell. For the whales that migrate along the North American east coast between Florida and Canada each spring and fall, several perils have caused their population to fall catastrophically, including getting tangled in fishing gear, hit by boats, or afflicted by climate change. From a modern high of 480 individuals in 2010, their numbers have plummeted more than 25 percent to about 350 today. |
|
|
But fishers have suffered, too. In an attempt to protect the withering whale population, government agencies have restricted fishing gear and closed fisheries along the Eastern Seaboard. For many fishers — including Michael “Chops” Cowdrey Jr., a captain based out of Sneads Ferry, North Carolina — the closures were financially devastating. |
|