Oxfam Portraits
Six months after Typhoon Haiyan: Portrait of a Fishing Community – Bantayan Island
In Pooc every morning at 7am fisherwomen meet fishermen as they return from the sea with their catch. Women sort the fish by size and type, then weigh and distribute the fish between saleswomen to be sold on to local customers.
Typhoon Haiyan was one of the most powerful storms to ever make landfall. Six months after the storm, life for communities on Bantayan Island remains a struggle. Three-quarters of the island’s population of about 136,000 depend on fishing as their main source of income, but thousands lost their boats and equipment in the storm. Fishing and coastal communities in the Philippines are among the poorest and the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and the risk of disasters.