Gender in fisheries

This guide provides an overview of the unique roles and contributions women make in the wild-caught fisheries sector. The guide also explains how persistent gender inequalities limit women’s economic empowerment, and increased risks of gender-based violence negatively impact the potential of women to thrive and contribute towards strong economies.

This brief helps facilitators use, reflect on, and adapt gender-inclusive strategies in their work with communities.

This training material is a facilitator guide for peer to peer learning on better management practices for post-harvest handling and trading of fresh fish.

This report provides a baseline analysis of women’s economic empowerment in the fisheries sector in the blue economy of the Indian Ocean rim region. The report focuses on the 22 Member States of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and includes both marine and inland fisheries and aquaculture sectors.

The contributions of women to fisheries are often invisible, ignored, and unrecognized even though they represent 47% of the global fisheries workforce, especially in pre- and post-production activities. Poor data systems lead to incorrect assumptions about the gender division of labor in fisheries. This causes the role of women in fisheries to be overlooked. To evaluate the contribution of women in the value chain, a participatory methodology was implemented in three small-scale, fisheries in Mexico: California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) fishery from the northern Mexican Pacific, penshell (Atrina maura) fishery from the Gulf of California, and Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) fishery from the Mesoamerican Reef region.

Collective action is recognized as a key element to successfully implementing sustainable fisheries. Nevertheless, gender equality, as an essential component in such actions, is often missing. In fisheries, women’s contributions are regularly invisible and remain unrepresented in statistics. In this paper, we examine the current status of women in Mexican fisheries based on governmental reports and programs, as well as five case studies from small-scale fishing communities.

Taking into account the economic importance of this sector for small-scale producers, as well as its high degree of vulnerability, the aim of this report is to give an overview of the current state of social protection and challenges facing small-scale fishers and fish farmers in Latin America and the Caribbean. It analyses the social protection needs of this population segment, the main social protection programs in the region, and proposes a roadmap with public policy recommendations to promote adequate social protection.

The Monterey Framework is a collectively agreed-upon definition of socially responsible seafood with input and backing from over two-dozen environmental and human rights organizations and voluntary commitments from an equal number of seafood businesses.

This handbook is designed to give practical guidance on improving gender and social inclusion in coastal fisheries and aquaculture for staff working in fisheries agencies in Pacific Island countries and territories. It focuses on the responsibilities of Pacific Island governments to help promote sustainable development outcomes for all people relying on coastal fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihoods.

Summary of recommendations for the revision of Ghana’s Fisheries Act

This report examines traditional management and tenure arrangements in the clam fishery of the Volta river estuary and provides recommendations for ensuring the sustainability of the clam fishery, which is critical for local livelihoods and food security.

Women play crucial roles in small-scale fisheries, yet their contributions are largely invisible, often ignored and unrecognized. This study conducted household and focus group surveys to examine the role of indigenous Fijian (iTaukei) women in SSF, documenting fishing practices and contributions to household food security and income.

This document, Towards Gender-Equitable Small-Scale Fisheries – A handbook In support of the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (henceforth the “handbook”), was developed to support gender-equitable small-scale fisheries by enhancing the understanding of their gender dimensions, with a focus on the specific role and conditions of women in the small-scale fisheries sector.

This document, Legislating for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries – A guide and considerations for implementing aspects of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication in National Legislation, is a tool for States to strengthen their fisheries legislation in order to establish conditions for inclusive and sustainable small-scale fisheries development, taking into account the interrelatedness of social, economic and environmental sustainability, while focusing on marginalized groups.

Este libro da cuenta de los retos que pescadores y pescadoras de México y Cuba afrontan frente al cambio climático: el cambio en sus artes de pesca, el conocimiento que tienen sobre los cambios que han sufrido los ecosistemas y el clima –desde la perspectiva de varias generaciones atrás en contraste con la generación actual, así como los cambios climáticos locales que son periódicos, como “El Niño”-, de las formas de organización social, de la participación de las pescadoras en la ciencia ciudadana y también, de los cambios que como científicos y científicas hacemos a nuestros marcos teóricos y a las bases de datos para el análisis de especies y capturas. En fin, cada vez es más evidente que la multidisciplina es una necesidad creciente para entender los problemas complejos, y la relación entre cambio climático, pescadores-pescadoras y pesquerías no es la excepción. 

This study examines the role of gender, gender equality, and gender equality strategies in small-scale fisheries.

"Fisheries, like other sectors, is not immune to gender inequality, and women tend to experience the brunt of inequality as undervalued and underrepresented actors in fisheries management and development. A comprehensive understanding of the gender approaches in use, including potential barriers to their implementation, is needed to promote gender equitable outcomes in the small-scale fisheries (SSF) sector."

The aim of this report is to present evidence towards how Information and Communication Technologies for Small-scale Fisheries (ICT4SSF) might enable and support the implementation of the FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines). We present case studies of ICT4SSF initiatives in different use areas to identify key themes and reflect on successes and failures.

The focus of this study was on Dagaa (sardines) (Rastrineobola argentea) Fishery which involves mostly women in its overall value chain. The study sites were areas that are specialized in dagaa fishery and these include Lushonga Island located in the Muleba district of Kagera region, Mwanza Kirumba international fish market and in some of the landing beaches in Nyamagana and Ilemela districts in Mwanza.