The impact of tropical cyclones on near-shore fisheries
I was born in Guemar and raised in Ouargla, Algeria. I received my Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Algeria in 2008. Then, I moved to Malaysia and obtained my Master’s degree in Economics from University Putra Malaysia in 2014. Given the increasing prominence of big data and data analysis in economics, I obtained my second Master’s degree in Applied Statistics with Network Analysis, from the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia (2020). Funny enough, I came from one of the extremely hottest places in the world where the temperature could reach close to 50°C (122°F), lived in a tropical climate in Malaysia, where is was humid and raining during the whole year, and have witnessed the exceptionally freezing weather in Russia, as low as -15°C (5°F).
My Project
I have been working with environmental topics since my first Master’s degree in Economics. My current project contributes to climate change cost assessments, focusing on the impact of tropical cyclones on near-shore fisheries, mainly in the Philippines and Vietnam. In particular, my project assesses the near-real-time impact of tropical cyclones on fisheries income.
This project fits within the Resilience Challenge project on hazard modelling and extreme scenarios. The developed study model can be applied to assess the impact of the tropical cyclone on fishing activities near New Zealand fishing areas.
The main research question is: what is the near-real-time impact of tropical cyclones on fisheries income? The study will explore the use of high-resolution geospatial data to conduct spatial mapping and develop an algorithm intended for immediate use when an event occurs. Data modelling, mapping, and visualization are constructed through different statistical, programming, and visualization software; from R and Python to ArcGIS and QGIS. Therefore, I enjoy working on this project because I find this challenging and entertaining at the same time.
Next Steps
The project out will allow for tropical cyclones ‘nowcasting’ to identify coastal area damage that has direct impact on fisheries income. Governments and companies will be able to estimate the cost of tropical cyclones on fishing as per wind location, speed, and its distance to land.
The project output will be beneficial to the New Zealand community, for individuals in the fisheries sector, government institutions, and insurance companies. Those working in the fisheries sector will be able to assess the anticipated loss related to the reduced sailing activities due to the tropical cyclones. Government organizations, research units, and data scientists may use the model to track tropical cyclones’ impacts in different geographical areas while being able to anticipate the potential damage beforehand. Also, the model could be employed by insurance companies to construct appropriate insurance plans within tropical cyclone-prone areas.
