This report is based on a year’s study of three fishing villages of Chengalpattu district, Tamil Nadu, conducted between February 1983 and January 1984. It profiles the villages and analyses the various factors that influence the role and status of the fisherwomen there. It also includes three case studies. These describe the lifestyle, the work, and the family and social status of three women.

During the course of the study the author, assisted by nine village women, did a basic survey of adult women in the three villages. She also conducted a sample survey covering one-tenth of all fisherwomen above the age of 13 and interviewed nine selected fisherwomen in depth over a period of six months. She lived for a few days with some of them.

How did this study originate? Between May and September 1982, a 10-week residential training course was conducted for 21 fisherwomen (“link workers”) from seven coastal villages of Chengalpattu district. At the end of the course, follow-up action programmes were planned in cooperation with the trained fisherwomen. The study described in this paper was conducted to help these programmes.

The study is an activity of the small-scale fisheries project of the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) and is part of the project’s ongoing work in cooperation with the Fisherwomen’s Extension Service of the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department. This work includes several pilot activities to improve the status of women, particularly in the areas of credit, education and training. (A report on these activities is under preparation.)

It is hoped that this paper will be of some help to planners, officials and institutions who are concerned with fisheries development, particularly with ways and means of improving the socio-economic life of fisherwomen.

The small-scale fisheries project of the Bay of Bengal Programme is funded by SIDA (the Swedish International Development Authority) and executed by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). It covers five countries bordering the Bay of Bengal - Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It is a multi-disciplinary project, active in craft, gear, aquaculture, extension, information and development support. The project’s main goals are to develop, demonstrate and promote appropriate technologies and methodologies to improve the conditions of small-scale fisherfolk and boost supplies of fish from the small sector in the BOBP’s member countries.

The author would like to thank Ms. Edeltraud Drewes, BOBP socio-economist, for motivation, discussions and comments; Ms. A.H. Kamila, for assistance in tabulating the statistical data; and the fisherwomen for sharing information about their lives, values and customs. In particular, the author would like to thank Machagandhi and Saradha of Thiruchinankuppam, Sumathi and Vedavalli of Chemmencheri and Machagandhi and Anbumathi of Panaiyur who not only served as key informants but also accommodated the author in their homes during her stay in the villages.