Impacts of Extreme Climate Change Event on Small-Scale Fishers and Their Adaptation in Baganga, Davao Oriental

Reviewer questions/comments/suggestions

Answers to the reviewer questions/comments/suggestions

Line number in manuscript

Reviewer #1

The last are particularly underreported--we need more data on overall effects on households, including what happened to local fish selling by fisher families.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions, we agree that there are underreporting and that this happens in the fisheries especially with small-scale fisheries which are not covered by BFAR with regards to catch data but the municipalities or local governments. Most local fish selling occurs in the local public market and during the time of the pandemic this was reduced to avoid exposure but small stalls sprouted sporadically near road networks. After the reopening, they are still standing. When the supertyphoon struck Baganga during that time, most of the households were shocked, including the fishers and because of various relief goods provided, they were not able to fish for sometime. I hope I am reading your comments correctly.

Changes in behavior are noted as happening "10 years ago" in line 318, but given the vague time frame of the ms, we cannot tell when that actually was, and it is important--if it was caused by the typhoon, we need to know that.

Thank you so much for your time and effort on our manuscript. The author acknowledges the concern regarding the vague time frame mentioned.

320

There are errors in the first two paragraph--line 36, "food supply" surely means "fish supply."

Thank you, sir/ma’am, for your unlimited understanding and effort to enhance our paper and make the manuscript more publishable. In line with this, the author incorporating your comments and suggestions for the enhancement of our manuscript.

39

Line 45, all marine fisheries produce 100% seafood products; what is meant here? Processed seafood products?

Thank you for your time and for providing detailed suggestions for the manuscript. We will revise the manuscript for further clarity.

48

Line 475, the main problem facing Philippine fisheries is destruction of the fish resource base by explosives, poisons, and other indiscriminate and murderous methods, but the brief mention of this is not supported by references (there are plenty out there!) or by discussion of how it affects these four communities.

Thank you so much for your time and effort in our manuscript. In line with this, the author will include relevant references to support the discussion on the destruction of the fish resource base by explosives, poisons, and other harmful methods. Additionally, we will expand on how these practices specifically affect the four communities mentioned in the study.

469-472.

English is generally good, but there are some sentence fragments, and "housewives" in line 416 should just be "wives."

Thank you, sir/ma’am, for your continued understanding and effort in improving our paper and making the manuscript more suitable for publication. We will revise the sentence fragments and change "housewives" to "wives" in line 416 as suggested.

409

Reviewer #2

Until here, all the citations are up to 2021. A paper to be published in 2025 needs to be supported by literature from 2022-2024, besides the cited ones.

Below, Macusi et al., 2023 is the first line!

Besides, citations in MDPI Journals are enumerated!

Thank you, sir/ma’am, for your unlimited understanding and effort to enhance our paper and make the manuscript more publishable. The authors have already addressed the literature from 2022-2024 in the manuscript.

This was revised in the Introduction section

NO!

Again:

You are talking about the Super Typhoon, not about (directly) climate change (impacts and vulnerability)

Then you say…..after the impacts of extreme events….GOOD!

Thank you so much for your time and effort in our manuscript. Your insights and suggestions played a crucial role in enhancing and correcting our manuscript into publishable forms. In line with this, we acknowledge your point about the Super Typhoon and the distinction between it and climate change. We will ensure that our focus remains clear and address the impacts of extreme events as you have noted.

77-78

Here

You should say (I suggest you)

Climate change, variability and extreme climate/weather events. So, you cover all the climate-related stressors.

For instance you say (correct):

..a better understanding of the consequences of extreme climate events

Thank you for your time and for providing detailed suggestions for the manuscript. Our team has already addressed and corrected the issues and errors identified, including the clarification of climate change, variability, and extreme climate/weather events, as you suggested.

83

I suggest

Climate-related stressors instead of climate change

Delete the wrongly added square

Thank you for dedicating your time to providing detailed suggestions for the manuscript. Our team is committed to ensuring the best possible outcome for the manuscript. In line with this, the authors have modified and corrected the identified errors, including replacing "climate change" with "climate-related stressors" and removing the wrongly added square.

117, 141, 156, 182

This average seems the average of the four values for each place; it has no sense……..The median should be reported.

Beside, for some characteristics, mainly revenue, Lucod shows a higher-strongly different-value.

Also, hours fishing/fuel per trip for Kinablangan.

Thank you so much for your time and effort in our manuscript. In line with this, our previous publication in the area used average values. If we had used the median value, we wouldn't have had a comparison. In most publications, the average is commonly used.

Where are Figure(s) 3A to 3E?

You forgot to include/upload them

Thank you, sir/ma’am, for your patience, understanding, and effort in helping to enhance our paper into a more publishable manuscript. In line with this, the authors have now attached Figures 3A to 3E, which were previously omitted.

Figure 3 in line 326

Climate-related management

Thank you, sir/ma’am, for your continued understanding and effort in improving our paper and making the manuscript more suitable for publication. The authors have addressed and corrected the issues and errors identified in the manuscript.

472

Climate resilience

Thank you for your time and for offering detailed suggestions on the manuscript. Our team has already addressed and corrected the identified issues and errors.

514

Reviewer questions/comments/suggestions

Answers to the reviewer questions/comments/suggestions

Line number in manuscript

Reviewer #3

Were these representative of the broader population of small-scale fishers in the region?

Thank you, sir/ma’am, for your unlimited understanding and effort to enhance our paper and make the manuscript more publishable. The authors acknowledge the concern that it’s not the region but the municipality; the author visited the barangay hall and spoke with the barangay captain, who mentioned that they don't have census data for the people that was affected by the Typhoon. The 30 respondents are just approximate and are also used in other studies (Macusi et al., 2020; Macusi et al., 2024)

The psychological impacts (e.g., trauma and distress) are significant findings but lack integration into the broader narrative of adaptation and resilience. Discussing these aspects in the context of long-term recovery strategies would add depth.

Thank you so much for your time and effort on our manuscript. The authors have already addressed and discussed the comments in the manuscript.

280-288

what specific types of training, livelihood programs, or regulatory measures could mitigate the identified vulnerabilities?

Thank you, sir/ma’am, for your unlimited understanding and effort to enhance our paper and make the manuscript more publishable. In line with this, the authors already included your comments and suggestions to enhance the manuscript.

482-487

The tables and figures are informative, but some could benefit from more detailed captions to aid interpretation. For example, the captions should briefly explain the key findings illustrated by the figure or table.

Thank you for your time and for providing detailed suggestions for the manuscript. The authors already incorporated your comments to enhance the quality of our manuscript.

257, 231, 170, 130

While the manuscript is well-written overall, there are occasional grammatical errors and instances of awkward phrasing. A thorough proofreading session is recommended to polish the language.

Thank you, sir/ma’am, for your unlimited understanding and effort to enhance our paper and make the manuscript more publishable. The authors have already addressed and corrected the issues and errors identified in the manuscript.

Language and grammar were thoroughly checked in all the parts of the paper

The reference list is extensive and well-curated, but the manuscript would benefit from integrating more recent studies (e.g., 2022–2024) on small-scale fisheries and climate resilience.

Thank you for your valuable feedback. The authors appreciate your suggestion and have now integrated more recent studies (e.g., 2022–2024) on small-scale fisheries and climate resilience into the manuscript. These updates strengthen the relevance and timeliness of the research.

This has been revised in the manuscript by integrating more recent studies (e.g., 2022–2024) on small-scale fisheries and climate resilience.

Figure 3, which presents fisher adaptations and the distribution of psychological impacts, is impactful. However, the text describing the figure (e.g., "44% of fishers reported trauma...") should be better aligned with the figure's details for consistency.

Thank you for your insightful comment. The authors appreciate your feedback and have revised the text to ensure it is better aligned with the details presented in Figure 3. The description now accurately reflects the data shown in the figure, ensuring consistency and clarity throughout the manuscript.

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