Fatima, a passionate and courageous 48-year-old woman, has lived all her life in Belyounech, a little Moroccan fishing village nestled beneath the mountains overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. As a child she used to fish with her father, and later married a fisher. Like other women in small-scale fishing in her community, Fatima was always providing essential support to the fishers in this predominantly male environment, mending nets, cleaning boats and so on.

When her husband died, Fatima had to provide for their three children. The only logical move she could think of was to somehow keep the fishing going – so, with the help of other women from the village, that is what she did. Despite the fact that most of them had never fished from a boat before, and to the considerable surprise of the local fishers, they launched the fishing cooperative ‘Belyounech Wave’.

 The inhabitants of Belyounech used to go to work in Ceuta, a Spanish city on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar. Then came COVID-19, the borders were closed and many lost their jobs. This situation made the new jobs created by the cooperative even more valuable. Today, more than 20 women work at Belyounech Wave, managing every part of the fishing process from the boat, to the plate and business is thriving. Worldwide, around 45 million women participate in small-scale fisheries, accounting for four in ten of all fishers and fishworkers.

The cooperative has also benefited from training and support from the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, Sea Fishing, Rural Development, Waters and Forests, which recently launched a national initiative to increase the value of small-scale fishery products. The additional income brought in by the women benefits all the inhabitants of Belyounech.