FISH NET| PHILIPPINES

SHIRLY RONABIO

The Super Typhoon Haiyan storm surge washed away almost everything Shirly had—except their fishing net that got caught in the mangroves. Years passed, Shirly and her community in Maliwaliw Island is now facing another ordeal brought on by a worsening climate crisis.

Super typhoon Haiyan’s storm surge dawned upon Shirly’s house in Eastern Samar’s Maliwaliw island. The sea is a large part of Shirly’s livelihood since fishing was a main source of her family’s income.

It was however, a dreadful day as the sea spawned a storm surge that swept across the island, leaving destruction in its wake. Shirly was in Laguna when the storm hit her home in Maliwaliw, and she couldn’t help but worry for her kids. Thankfully, her children survived the storm’s onslaught, but nothing was left of their home.

Eleven years passed, and fishing as a livelihood has become harder for Shirley and her family with catch being harder to come by. They tried to turn to farming but also faced problems with extreme heat killing the crops, and flooding during the wet season. Shirly’s son, Cedric used to have dreams of being a fisherman in the future, but with corals being destroyed and mangroves dying, that dream may be difficult to turn into a reality.

Object of Memory

Living on an island, Shirly and her community’s livelihood primarily relies on fishing. The fishing net that got caught in the mangroves during the onslaught of Super Typhoon Haiyan was a reminder of Shirly’s resilience and her community’s unwavering connection to the sea. But that connection is now being threatened by the intensifying climate crisis. After Haiyan, there are more strong typhoons that batter their area, making it difficult for them to fish. Even on a fair weather, the rising sea temperatures destroy corals that serve as habitat for the fishes.