The Economic Impacts of Hurricanes on Fisheries in the United States

Hurricanes routinely traverse water and land along the Southeastern United States, bringing with them hazardous weather conditions at sea, which presumably hinder fishing operations. Yet, work examining the impact of hurricanes on fisheries has mostly focused on supply chain analyses and post-disaster recovery, without paying attention to the first link in a long chain of events: how hazardous weather affects fisheries production. Here, we quantify the economic toll of hurricanes on commercial fisheries in the Southeastern United States. We construct a novel, high-frequency county-level panel linking daily commercial landings and revenue to hurricane exposure from 2005 to 2022. Our results indicate that county-level wind exposure reduces daily commercial landings and revenue by up to 60 and 70% under major-hurricane-force winds. Monetizing responses indicate cumulative revenue losses of $162.4 million over 2005--2022 due to hurricanes. These findings underscore the persistent vulnerability of coastal fisheries to extreme weather and provide an empirical foundation for targeted disaster preparedness and climate adaptation policy.