Based: Biloxi, Miss.
Employees: 2
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After last year's oil spill, the fishing charter's revenue was down about 50 percent, compared to the previous year. Captain Thomas Becker expects 2011 to be similarly disappointing, notwithstanding T & D Charters' offer of an eight-hour trip for only about $150. "We're trying to keep prices as low as we can," says Becker, 69. "We're trying to hang in there and do advertising." Becker and his son managed to keep working last year, relying on a government contract to help with the oil cleanup. Becker says he received an emergency payment of $13,000 from BP and a further $43,000 from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. He says he won't apply for what the loss fund calls a "final payment" until he knows the full extent of losses.