Redressing the gender balance
The essential role women contribute in small-scale is crucial but often overlooked.
María Casas, a professional fisherwoman, is also coastal patron, owner of the boat and owner of the company. © Dani Monllor
Catching fish is just one of the stages in the SSF process. Moving along the fish value chain from fishing to processing, more women appear. In fact, much of the labour needed to convert fish into consumable products is done by women.
But in terms of official statistics, they’re hardly there. The invisibility of women in fisheries is a persistent issue in both the Mediterranean and the Black Sea basins. Gender disaggregated data on SSF is in short supply across the region, and in many countries data is not collected at all for the pre- and post-harvest operations, as well as the non-vessel based fisheries (gleaners such as clam collectors along the shore), in which women typically fulfil important functions. Also, most legal frameworks don’t recognize the existence or contribution of a fisher’s wife or life partner in a family SSF enterprise.
This invisibility in terms of statistics can result in women being marginalized, underpaid, excluded from SSF decision-making processes and prevented from accessing social protection programmes. Communities are weakened, lives are made more difficult, fishery management suffers, and untold potential goes to waste.