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Fish supply chains are characterised by many work, ownership and power relations that are segregated along gender lines. Despite the fact that women perform important activities all along the fisheries and aquaculture value chains, gendered economic analyses have been almost totally missing in economics research relevant to fish production, governance, markets and trade. What improvements in research and policy advice would arise if gender was incorporated into fisheries economics?

Woman mending aquaculture cage net, Lake Volta, Ghana.

The International Institute for Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET) is highlighting gender in its economics and trade research themes by encouraging the presentation and discussion of rigorous research that is quantitative and based on sound economic and gender theory and methodologies.

The Special Session – Bringing Gender Discourse into Fisheries Economics and Trade: New Challenges and Opportunities – will be held at the 2018 Conference of IIFET, July 16-20, 2018, Seattle, USA.

Here is some important information on the Special Session which will comprise mainly contributed papers and presentations. Abstracts are due by 21 February 2018 (original deadline extended by 1 week), and, for those presenters wishing to compete for the Rosemary Firth Best Paper Prize, an advance paper by the 4^th of April 2018. Full details are given below and on the IIFET website.

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Bringing Gender Discourse into Fisheries Economics and Trade. Gender Economics

Research in Fisheries and Aquaculture: New Challenges and Opportunities

19^th International Biennial Conference of  International Institute of Fisheries Economics & Trade (IIFET)-2018

On the campus of the University of Washington,  Seattle, Washington, USA

 An open session entitled “Bringing Gender Discourse into Fisheries Economics and Trade. Gender Economics Research in Fisheries and Aquaculture: New Challenges and Opportunities” has been accepted in the 19^th International Biennial Conference of International Institute of Fisheries Economics & Trade (IIFET)-2018 to be held on the campus of the University of Washington, in the “Emerald City”: Seattle, Washington, USA.

The session will be mainly comprised of contributed papers and presentations, with the requirement that only those presenters who provide an advance paper by the 4^th of April 2018 will be considered for the Rosemary Firth Best Paper Prize  (Best Paper Prizes information). The prize consists of a $500 check, a stipend of up to $2,500 to cover airfare and lodging, and free conference registration (Rosemary Firth Best Paper Prize details).

In 1963, Che’ Yoh and Rosemary Firth discuss qualities and uses of pandanus leaves, Malaysia.

At the Special Session, the winner of the Rosemary Firth Prize will present the Inaugural Rosemary Firth Address, named after British Sociologist Rosemary Firth (1912-2001) who wrote the 1941 (1966) volume “Housekeeping among Malay Peasants,” tracking the household economics of traditional fishing communities in east coast Malaysia.

Objectives of this session are as follows:

• To mainstream gender components in economics and trade research through quantitative and qualitative economic and gender methodologies.
• To discuss how economic research can be applied to address questions on gender in aquaculture and fisheries

Suggested topics and their links to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are relevant to the gender session:

• Concepts, methodologies and data for gender economics research. Quantitative and qualitative economics research on gender in fisheries/aquaculture/trade.
• Measuring women’s empowerment in fisheries and aquaculture: assets, time use, agency; indicators of equality [SDGs #5, 8, VG-SSF].
• Household production: how households are organized for aquaculture and fisheries production, the impacts of household production on gender equality and women’s empowerment [SDGs #5, 8].
• Industrial organization: gender in markets; gender and fish market prices; gender in econometric models; input prices and gender, e.g., through unpaid or poorly paid work; gender and migrants; gender differences across scales of value chains [SDGs #5, 8].
• Fisheries management and overfishing: gender and fisheries management, women’s unpaid or paid work in other sectors as subsidies to overfishing [SDGs #5, 14].
• Gender economics and social policies – economic inequality, employment market, welfare, empowerment, access and control of resources, property rights, policies, law etc.
• Gender and globalization – migration, crises, war, climate change, market dynamism, access, value chains, availability and affordability to nutritious food, market access, quality management, blue economy, and
• Gender and culture – representation, barriers to entry, issues of successors, education and training, entrepreneurship.

The organizers welcome submissions from a wide range of topics relevant to the objectives. We encourage all to participate in this session by way of sending abstracts (250 words) before 14th February 2018.

All instructions of how to upload your abstract can be found at the IIFET web page: IIFET-2018

Tip for preparing a good abstract: We encourage intending presenters to have your abstracts and papers read and critiqued by a respected colleague or mentor as a means to help improve its quality.

Session Team Members

• Meryl Williams
• Carmen Pedroza-Gutiérrez, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
• Arpita Sharma, ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai, India
• Shyam Sainulabdeen Salim, ICAR- Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Cochin, India
• Achini De Silva, Sabaragamuwa University
• Kate Barclay, University of Technology Sydney