Fading Fishermen: A Historic Industry Faces a Warming World 

SEABROOK, N.H. (AP) — Fishermen in the northeastern U.S. are struggling with changing climate and warming oceans that have threatened one of the nation’s most historic industries.

Global warming has prompted widespread changes in the fisheries for iconic species such as Atlantic cod, lobsters and clams. Fishermen are left with the options of adapting, hanging on or giving in.

The changes are perhaps most noticeable in New England’s cod fishery, which has dwindled from more than 1,200 boats in the 1980s to only a few dozen.

Scientists said late last year that the impact of climate change on Atlantic cod might be worse than previously thought. Fishermen pursue the fish in the Gulf of Maine, a body of water off New England that has experienced dramatic temperature rise.