Women in the EU Fish Processing Economy

Fish processor, Poland. Source: http://www.poland-fish.com.

In 2012, the European Union (EU) Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), through the Joint Research Centre of the EU, published a report on the Economic Performance of the EU Fish Processing Industry Sector (STECF-OWP-12-01). 

In aggregate from the reporting countries, the 2011 employment statistics show that women and men are almost evenly balanced, in terms of numbers of jobs. Looking at different countries, however, the figures differ. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have more than 60% women fish processing employees, whereas Malta and the UK have more than 60% of men employees. In Europe, fish processing about 150,000 people. France, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom supported the largest workforces, with more than 10,000 each.

Percent women (blue bar) and men (red bar) by EU reporting country. Source. STECF report)

This report (link for download) should be read in conjunction with the STECF report on employment and other economic parameters in the aquaculture sector (see: /counting-womens-participation-in-eu-aquaculture/). The EU is taking measures to improve its fisheries economic statistics, including gender-disaggregated data. To date, however, no gender-disaggregated data are available from capture fisheries.