ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANKASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City1550 Metro Manila, Philippineswww.adb.orgTHE IMPACT OF TROPICAL CYCLONES ON FISHING ACTIVITIES IN THE PHILIPPINESIlan Noy, Miloud Lacheheb, and Madhavi PunditADB ECONOMICSWORKING PAPER SERIESNO. 691August 2023The Impact of Tropical Cyclones on Fishing Activities in the PhilippinesThis study looks at fishing activity in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone in 2012, as well as how it responded to tropical cyclones. The study identifies the main fishing grounds and examines the impact of tropical cyclone speed on vessel position using satellite images and tropical cyclones data. Data suggest that tropical cyclones have a negative impact on fishing activity, with fewer active boats during and after the storm. The most affected locations include the Sibuyan Sea, Visayan Sea, and Panay Gulf. These tropical cyclones were estimated to reduce commercial fishing production by 7,800 tons per day, affecting more than 188,000 families in Western Visayas. About the Asian Development BankADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members —49 from the region. Its main instruments for helping its developing member countries are policy dialogue, loans, equity investments, guarantees, grants, and technical assistance. ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANKThe ADB Economics Working Paper Series presents research in progress to elicit comments and encourage debate on development issues in Asia and the Pacific. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of ADB or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent.ADB Economics Working Paper SeriesThe Impact of Tropical Cyclones on Fishing Activities in the PhilippinesIlan Noy, Miloud Lacheheb, and Madhavi PunditNo. 691 | August 2023Ilan Noy (ilan.noy@vuw.ac.nz) is the Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change and a professor at the School of Economics and Finance, both at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Miloud Lacheheb (miloud.lacheheb@vuw.ac.nz) is a Ph.D. student in economics at the Wellington School of Business and Government. Madhavi Pundit (mpundit@adb.org) is a senior economist at the Economic Research and Development Impact Department, Asian Development Bank. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO)© 2023 Asian Development Bank6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, 1550 Metro Manila, PhilippinesTel +63 2 8632 4444; Fax +63 2 8636 2444www.adb.orgSome rights reserved. Published in 2023.ISSN 2313-6537 (print), 2313-6545 (electronic)Publication Stock No. WPS230291-2DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/WPS230291-2The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by ADB in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area, or by using the term “country” in this publication, ADB does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.This publication is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/. By using the content of this publication, you agree to be bound by the terms of this license. For attribution, translations, adaptations, and permissions, please read the provisions and terms of use at https://www.adb.org/terms-use#openaccess.This CC license does not apply to non-ADB copyright materials in this publication. If the material is attributed to another source, please contact the copyright owner or publisher of that source for permission to reproduce it. ADB cannot be held liable for any claims that arise as a result of your use of the material.Please contact pubsmarketing@adb.org if you have questions or comments with respect to content, or if you wish to obtain copyright permission for your intended use that does not fall within these terms, or for permission to use the ADB logo.Corrigenda to ADB publications may be found at http://www.adb.org/publications/corrigenda.Note: In this publication, “$” refers to United States dollars. ABSTRACT In this paper, we identify the main fishing grounds and track the response of fishing vessels’ activity to tropical cyclones (TCs) in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone during 2012. We use satellite imagery from the National Oceani