The impact of fisheries development and globalization processes on women of fishing communities in the Asian Region

This paper looks at the impact of fisheries development and globalisation processes on women of fishing communities in the Asian region. It also examines the responses of women of these communities to these developments as well as initiatives taken by them to deal with the situation in positive ways.

The paper demonstrates that there is a lack of information or statistics on the issues involved and thus proposes areas for future research.

Conclusions and recommendations for future research:

• accurate data: there are no accurate statistics on women’s roles in fisheries in any developing country. The starting point of any data collection exercise must change: rather than asking ‘do women of fishing communities work?, the starting question has to be ‘what work do women of fishing communities do?’. This can provide a holistic picture the time women put in and the problems they face. It will also clearly indicate that, through their close interaction with the coastal ecosystem and through their work fishing, collecting water, firewood, fruits etc., women are likely to have a broader ‘ecosystem perspective’ and they have a lot to contribute in bringing ecosystem considerations into fisheries management
• the landing centre: research on the work women are doing in landing centres, the niches they occupy, the problems and competition they face, the organisations they are part of, and how things have changed over time, would bring out also the dynamism of women in coping with the massive changes they have had to deal with over the last 2 decades. It would provide useful information for policy initiatives
• the market: research in this field will help understand the role women play in fish marketing and the problems they face in transport, in accessing market facilities, in accessing credit, etc. This will also help throw light on marketing chains for different kinds of fish, and the role that women play in these different chains
• women within organisations: a better understanding of whether women are part of organisations within communities and at the regional and national levels, the constraints they face in participation, the different perspectives they have brought in, and ways in which their meaningful participation can be strengthened, would also be highly relevant. As would a better documentation of the responses of communities to adverse developments, and positive initiative taken by them
• women in fish processing plants: Given the importance of the sector in the Asian region, it would be useful to study the conditions of work in the sector, wages and gender-based differentials in wages, the changing nature of employment (e.g. increasing casualisation), the impact of changes in technology and markets etc.
• women in aquaculture: there is no information about the level of employment and conditions of work in aquaculture units in the region. Given that aquaculture is growing at such a rapid pace, it is important to look at this dimension and to monitor trends

While all these remain important areas for research, the paper demonstrates that the importance of process cannot be over-emphasised. Any research should be undertaken in a participatory manner, in ways which clearly benefits and empowers those at the community level, particularly women.