As World Fish Stocks Decline, Researchers Turn to an Untapped Resource—Women Equity Issues Top Agenda as Scientists Question Fishing Industry Practices
From backyard ponds in Bangladesh to the deep-water fisheries off Africa's Atlantic coast, women's role as "fisher folk" is fast changing one of the most tradition-bound segments of the world's food supply chain. Changes in fishing practices and in the relatively new field of aquaculture, researchers say, bring with them new challenges and opportunities, but few signposts to provide guidance. "The international community is paying more and more attention to women and their role in maintaining the health of the world's fisheries," says Meryl Williams, director of the World Fish Center, a Future Harvest Center based in Penang, Malaysia. "But our knowledge is sketchy, and our ability to reach out is limited. "Until quite recently," she adds, "the macho image of the fisherman colored much of our thinking, but that image is changing fast." Williams estimates that at least 50 million developing country women are employed in the fishing industry, usually in low paying but important jobs such as net making, processing, and marketing. Already mired in poverty, their circumstances are sure to deteriorate as they come face to face with the challenges of globalization, declining fish supplies, and competition from modern fishing fleets, she says. Williams notes that most women involved in fishing lack access to tools and credit, a voice in decision-making, or the opportunity to receive training. "To succeed in a world where privatization is on the rise and subsidies for fishing are disappearing, women will need a lot of extra help," she says. "Until now, however, the very groups that you would expect to provide support have literally missed the boat." Low Pay, Little Security, High Rates of AIDS Stella Williams, an economist from Nigeria's Obafemi Awolowo University notes that gender programs rarely reach out to women working in fisheries and that fisheries programs have been slow to take steps to improve their lot. "In developing countries," she says, "the work of women fishers is mainly found in the informal economy, where they continue to receive low pay and little in the way of job security. Most women lag far behind men in terms of earnings and in the services that would improve profitability." "When fishing activities are expanded or mechanized, they are frequently taken over by men," adds Lyn Lambeth, a fisheries officer of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community in New Caledonia. "When women find work in the production sector, for example in tuna processing plants in the Pacific, it's usually in low-paid production line work," she says. Ironically, one of the few areas where women do not seem to lag behind their male counterparts is in their rate of HIV infection and AIDS. Epidemiological studies show that fishermen are among the groups most prone to be HIV positive and that they are passing on the virus to their partners. The phenomenon is believed to be associated with long absences, visits to commercial sex workers, and drug use. In Tanzania, workers in the fishing industry are five times as likely to die from AIDS as are farm workers. The Good News Although women working in the fishing industry lag far behind their male counterparts in almost all categories, there is some good news says Ida Siason, vice chancellor of the University of the Philippines. Asian women, she says, have made headway as fish farmers. Moreover, expert networks have been established to assist women in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and in the Philippines. New technology also helps. In Bangladesh, the only country in the world where men have a greater life expectancy than women, the introduction of farming in backyard ponds is helping thousands of women take greater control of their lives. Fish farming is helping women not only feed their families, but also provides much needed income, and even aesthetic pleasure from growing attractive fish such as Silver Barb and Tilapia. But progress has been uneven. Community-based management of the country's small, seasonal, inland bodies of water indicates that attempts to empower women through women-only management schemes have largely collapsed because women managers were not respected. Committees involving both men and women have apparently been more successful. "Working together will be key to overcoming many types of problems," says Williams of the World Fish Center. "New research in the fisheries sector is needed to develop appropriate actions, programs, and policies that address gender. A focus on women alone will not be sufficient." She cautions, however, that women's roles in fishing–as in society as a whole–are changing. As these roles change, it is important to ensure that women not only become more equal partners with men, but that they also expand their work beyond the subsistence level. "To achieve that objective," she adds, "it is essential that more women be brought into decision-making to assure the survival and improved well-being of the world's fishing industry." "The world's fish stocks are in decline," says Meryl Williams, "and science can provide the technology to help deal with this problem. But even with the best technology, it's going to be increasingly difficult to resolve these problems unless women are given a fair opportunity to compete." ### ICLARM — The World Fish Center (http://www.iclarm.org/) is an international research organization devoted to improving the productivity, management, and conservation of aquatic resources for the benefit of users and consumers in developing countries. The Center conducts cooperative research with institutions in developing countries and supports activities in information and training. The World Fish Center is one of the 16 Future Harvest Centers.		Fishers knit a better net. Source: Rubiyanto W. Haliman Women in aquaculture. Source: Marlene Bedford, Baobab Productions Harvesting fish in Bangladesh. Source: Marlene Bedford, Baobab Productions Women with fish harvest. Source: Marlene Bedford, Baobab Productions