FAO.org

According to FAO's publication Good Practice Policies to Eliminate Gender Inequalities in Fish Value Chains, gender is important because men and women often perform different tasks within fish value chains, and have different assets, skills, experience, knowledge and decision-making roles. However, the invisibility of women’s roles in official fisheries and aquaculture statistics, coupled with the negative impacts of gender-blind policies, leave women facing discrimination and marginalization within the sector.

Fish processing factories (including those that produce salted fish) provide wage labour opportunities for women. Growing international concern about labour exploitation – especially through the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement, spurred by consumers – is putting pressure on governments, and employers’ and workers’ organizations, to set standards and agree on codes of conduct, and to enforce them. One positive result of the rising power of large national and international retailers and restaurant chains is the imposition of more rigorous health and safety, environmental and social responsibility standards.