Category Archives: India

All GAF-India presentations now online

Posted on February 8, 2018 | Leave a comment

We are pleased to announce that all the slide presentations from GAF-India, held 21-24 November 2017 during the 11th Indian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum, Kochi, India, are now available online. Check them out on this page: LINK

Dry fish market, India. Photo: Ujwala Jaykisan Patil, Maharashtra Machhimar Kruti Samiti, Maharashtra, India. Presentation in the Special Workshop on Challenges in the Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on Small Scale Fisheries (SSFVG) of FAO in South Asia, led by ICSF.

Thank you to Sijitha of CIFT for uploading the presentations.

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Posted in Africa, AFS-Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section (GAF), Aquaculture, Arlene Nietes Satapornvanit, Asia, Bangladesh, Conservation, Events, awards, grants, employment, Fish post-harvest, Fisheries, GAF-India [11IFAF], Gender, Gendered labor studies, history, ICSF, India, Indonesia, Kerala, Maharashtra, Men, Mumbai, Nigeria, Nikita Gopal, Philippines, Seafood industry, Seaweed, Small Scale Fisheries-Voluntary Guidelines, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu, Tuna, Uttar Pradesh, Value chain analysis, West Bengal, Women

Gender Section officially launched in Kochi

Posted on January 17, 2018 | Leave a comment

We are pleased to share some photos of the official launch of the Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section of the Asian Fisheries Society in Kochi on 21 November 2017, as part of the Inaugural Function of the 11th Indian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum, and as a prelude to GAF-India.

02. Countdown to the launch of the GAF Section logo.

Click on the LINK to see the photos.

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Posted in AFS-Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section (GAF), GAF-India [11IFAF], India, Kerala

“Engendering Security in Fisheries and Aquaculture” Special Issue of Asian Fisheries Journal online

Posted on January 2, 2018 | Leave a comment

A Special Issue of Asian Fisheries Science journal, Volume 30S, has just been released online, presenting 25 papers, plus a Guest Editorial and other information based on GAF6 – the 6th Global Symposium on Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries (2016, Bangkok, India).

The Special Issue is “Engendering Security in Fisheries and Aquaculture.” Dr Nikita Gopal, Chief Guest Editor of the Special Issue, and her co-editors, highlight that, as applied research, “most of the work published represents on-the-ground efforts to empower women and men to improve their livelihoods. These applied studies are complemented by others of a deeper theoretical and more exploratory nature addressing women‟s and men‟s personal perceptions of themselves within the fish sectors.”

The papers cover many angles, including the impacts on fishermen’s perceptions of their masculinity under strict new fisheries regulations, women’s and men’s strategies and niches in aquaculture, a large tuna port, following a major land reclamation project, a tsunami and in seaweed production. In exploring the paucity of sex-disaggregated data, aquaculture publishing by women, and women’s needs after disasters, the papers range from global in scope, to the national and local.

Visit this page to gain an overview of the Special Issue and download the whole volume or individual papers. LINK

Congratulations to all the authors!

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Posted in Africa, AFS-Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section (GAF), Aquaculture, Asia, Bangladesh, Climate Change, Conservation, Croatia, Egypt, Europe, Events, FAO, UN Women, World Bank, IFAD, UNIDO and other multilateral, Fish post-harvest, Fisheries, food security, France, GAF6, Gender, Gender and development, Global, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Kerala, Masculinity, Men, NACA, Nepal, Philippines, Regional, research, Scylla serrata, Seafood industry, Senegal, South Korea, Tamil Nadu, Thailand, Tuna, Value chain analysis, Women

GAF-India Prizes and Launch of GAF Section at 11IFAF

Posted on December 25, 2017 | Leave a comment

GAF-India was held in Kochi, Kerala, India from 21-24 November 2017. Previously, the prize winners of the M.C. Nandeesha Photo Competition were announced (link). Now we are happy to announce the student prize winners for GAF-India presentations and posters, and the winner of the first Asian Fisheries Society Indian Branch Prof. M.C. Nandeesha Gender Justice and Equality Award.

See photos and details of all the prize winners here.

Winner of First Prize, Best Student Presentation at GAF-India, B.M.R.L. Basnayake, receiving her prize from Dr J.K. Jena, President of Asian Fisheries Society Indian Branch and Asian Fisheries Society, at the closing ceremony 11IFAF, 24 November 2017, Kochi, India.

BEST STUDENT PRESENTATIONS

1st Prize: B.M.R.L. Basnayake and D..M. De Silva – “Gendered Timeline of the Market Landscape of the Fisheries Industry in Sri Lanka.”

2nd Prize: Asha S. Karunaratne, I.C. Hettiarachchi and D.A.M. De Silva – “Gender Sensitive Value Chain Selection: Fish, Banana and Cinnamon, Which Provide Best Opportunities for Women?”

BEST STUDENT POSTERS

1st Prize: Mrudula, K.M., P.K. Sajeenamol, Jiswin Joseph, M.V. Neelima, Bindu J., S Sreejith, Sajesh, V.K., and Nikita Gopal. – “Traditional Fish Recipes of Fisher Households and Their Significance.”

2nd Prize: Manju Lekshmi N., Archana G., Saly N. Thomas and Leela Edwin – “Rural Women Participation in Pre and Post-Harvest Operations of Stakenet (Estuarine Set Bag) along Aroor Fishing Village, Alappuzha, Kerala.”

ASIAN FISHERIES SOCIETY INDIAN BRANCH: PROF. M.C. NANDEESHA GENDER JUSTICE & EQUALITY AWARD 2017

Dr Meryl J Williams, Honorary Life Member, Asian Fisheries Society, “In recognition of her pioneering and sustaining efforts towards drawing international attention and developing impacting interventions in  gender justice and equality in the Asian Aquaculture and Fisheries sector.”

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Posted in AFS-Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section (GAF), Aquaculture, Asia, awards, Conservation, Events, awards, grants, employment, Fish post-harvest, Fisheries, GAF-India [11IFAF], Gender, Gender and development, India, Kerala, Men, Sri Lanka, Value chain analysis, Women

Lives of women in the Sunderabans under climate change

Posted on December 18, 2017 | Leave a comment

By Professor Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt

Resource, Environment and Development Program, Crawford School for Public Policy, Australian National University

The film is based on my ongoing research on the effects of climate change on women living in the villages of the Sundarbans, focusing on how they are facing up to the challenges thrown by the rising sea levels, higher tidal surges that breach through the embankments that protect villages and farmlands, more frequent and more intense cyclonic storms and so on. 

Although everyone’s life is changing, women are affected more than men as they carry out the daily chores – collecting fresh water as salinity creeps into the soil and underground aquifers.

The film was made in collaboration with my colleague, Ronodeb Paul, of Kolkata, India. 

Rono and I were in the Sundarbans at the height of the monsoons; the rivers were swollen and the tides was fierce. It was very scary to cross some of the river channels to get to the chars or river islands. Once in the villages, it was not much easier; the fine-grained clay that covered everything like a veneer was extremely slippery. During one of the shoots, I slipped on the wet clay and fell, causing much fun amongst the village women who had better practice at tiptoeing on the mud than me. 

To see the video, click here.

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Posted in Asia, Climate Change, Gender, India, Men, West Bengal, Women

Results of M.C. Nandeesha Photo Competition announced in Kochi

Posted on November 23, 2017 | Leave a comment

22 November 2017

The winners of the three prizes for the M.C. Nandeesha Photo Competition were announced in Kochi during the GAF-India event at the 11th Indian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum. Judged by online voting and a panel of 4 members of the Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section, in addition to the prizes, 5 Highly Commended entries were named.

We thank all the entrants whose wonderful photos made the judges and voters jobs very difficult. Congratulations to the 3 winners and those whose photos were Highly Commended.

Here are all the results. Visit the competition page to see all the photos.

FIRST PRIZE 002. Women participate in fish harvesting (From aquaculture pond Tripura, India). Photo: Vikash Kumar, ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata, West Bengal

First Prize: Vikash Kumar, ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CIFRI), Barrackpore, Kolkata, India.

002. Women participation in fish harvesting (From aquaculture pond Tripura, India)

Second Prize: Ranjan Manna, Principal Scientist, ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata, India.

 010. Equal contributor: Catching fish using gill net from a river in Indian Sundarban

Third Prize: Deepjyoti Baruah, Senior Scientist, ICAR-Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research, Bhimtal, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India.

 044. Women in Assam fishing for food security

Highly Commended: Pradip Kumar Mahato, Graphic artist, India.

 058. Mending Lives Together. Description: The photo was taken at a fishing harbour in West Bengal, India, where men and women were found sharing responsibilities in mending fishing nets.

Highly Commended: Tabrez Nasar, Dean, Institute of Livelihood Research and Training, India.

 004. Male entrepreneurs from Meghalaya learning from women entrepreneurs in Jharkhand, India.

Highly Commended: Renju Ravi, Marketing Assistant, National Institute of Fisheries Post Harvest Technology and Training (NIFPHATT), Foreshore Road, Ernakulam, Kerala, India.

025. More than equality, striving for a livelihood

Highly Commended: Suvra Roy, Scientist, ICAR- Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, India.

 003. Women participation in sorting and grading of fishes after catch (from coastal region of Sundarbans)

Highly Commended: Neelkanth Mishra, CEO, Centre for Aquatic Livelihood -Jaljeevika, Pune, India.

020. Netting Destiny: Hidden faces of women in fisheries

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Posted in AFS-Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section (GAF), Aquaculture, awards, communication resources, Conservation, Fish post-harvest, Fishery or Aquaculture Type, Segment, Gender, India, Kerala, Maharashtra, Men, Seafood industry, West Bengal, Women

A welcome new FAO gender Handbook to support the Small Scale Fisheries Guidelines

Posted on June 25, 2017 | Leave a comment

A very welcome addition to the technical support for the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication – a handbook –  has just been released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).  Called “Towards gender-equitable small-scale fisheries governance and development“, the handbook written by Nilanjana Biswas, of the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), is a treasure trove of essential background knowledge on women, gender and small-scale fisheries, combined with practical advice and case examples on incorporating gender equality principles in small scale fisheries work. The target audience is broad – from government officers to fishers and their communities, fish worker groups and researchers, as befits a product of the very participatory development process the Handbook team took.

The Handbook is organised in 3 parts:

  • Part 1: Understanding gender and the role of women in small-scale fisheries
  • Part 2: Responsible fisheries and sustainable development through a gender lens
  • Part 3: Ensuring an enabling environment for gender equality and supporting implementation

Among the rich and varied advice and explanatory boxes are such gems as a guide to tried and tested FAO methods for assessing post-harvest losses, and disaster response and rehabilitation issues to target to help women. Throughout, the Handbook has action points for policy-makers and for community service organisations, offering a few key tips on each subject.

A particular highlight is the set of case studies, each containing a description of the case, followed by a gender-sensitive “Let’s analyse this…” section that gets to the heart of the gender issues.

Here is the list of Case Studies:

  1. Women in fishing communities on Lake Victoria
  2. Tenure rights of traditional fishing communities in Raigad, India
  3. Recognition of indigenous community-owned land in Nicaragua
  4. War-affected women in the fishing villages of the Mannar Coast,
    Sri Lanka
  5. Self-regulation by women harvesters in the Gulf of Mannar, India
  6. Mandira Marine Extractive Region, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  7. Transboundary issues and fishers – learning from India and Sri Lanka
  8. Transboundary issues and fishers – learning from the European Union
  9. Diversifying livelihoods for small-scale fishing communities in Uganda
  10. Pacific Fishing Company on Levuka Island, Fiji
  11. Migrant Chinese women workers employed in oyster shucking in Japan
  12. Growing violence and abuse in small-scale fisheries in South Africa
  13. Reclaiming the Marol fish market in Mumbai, India
  14. Impact of harbour fishing on fish trade in Kerala, India
  15. Impact of competition along Lake Victoria in Kenya and on inland
    fisheries in Zambia
  16. Impact of industrialization on women in small-scale post-harvest
    fisheries in South Africa
  17. Issues of cross-border trade for traditional women fish vendors in
    Cambodia
  18. The risks of neglecting women in policy implementation
  19. Post-tsunami rehabilitation in Aceh, Indonesia
  20. Impact of mine pollution in Buyat Bay, Indonesia
  21. Matsyafed in Kerala, India – an apex cooperative for small-scale fisheries
  22. Impact of seasonal fishing ban on women fish traders in
    Puducherry, India
  23. Marshall Point, a coastal indigenous fishing/farming community in
    Nicaragua
  24. Women fishers fight corruption in the Sunderbans, India
  25. An example of value chain analysis (VCA) (in Malawi)
  26. Public hearing on issues of women in the fish trade in Kerala, India
  27. Enabling women’s participation in meetings in Kigombe, the United
    Republic of Tanzania
  28. Fisherwomen in Brazil organize for their rights
  29. Regional Fisheries Livelihood Programme for South and Southeast
    Asia (RFLP)
  30. Mainstreaming gender in the BOBLME project

Download the full Handbook at this LINK.

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Posted in Advocacy, Africa, Asia, Bangladesh, BOBLME, Brazil, Cambodia, Change, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Europe, FAO, FAO, UN Women, World Bank, IFAD, UNIDO and other multilateral, Fiji, Fish post-harvest, Fisheries, Gender, Gender and development, Global, Iceland, ICSF, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kerala, Malawi, Mekong, Men, Mumbai, Nicaragua, Nilanjana Biswas, Pacific, Seafood industry, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu, Tuna, Uganda, Value chain analysis, West Bengal, Women, Zambia

Sustainable Development Goal 5 and fisheries

Posted on June 23, 2017 | Leave a comment

The May 2017 issue of Yemaya, the gender in fisheries newsletter of the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers, is now out. This issue is full of stimulating and diverse articles from around the world – Mexico, India, Fiji and more, many with a focus on the implications of Sustainable Development Goal #5 on gender equality and its implications for fisheries. Download the whole issue or individual articles (see list below) at this link.

Yemaya Maya SDG5

Yemaya Mama: The picture isn’t complete without gender equality! p. 11 Yemaya #54, May 2017.

Contents of Yemaya #54, May 2017

  1. Gender equal fisheries by Meryl Williams
  2. Milestones – The Entebbe Declaration by  Venugopalan N
  3. Profile – An independent life! For Metty, a fisherwoman from Kerala, India, fishing has been a mainstay for over four decades by Nikita Gopal
  4. Gender equality in and through fisheries by Kyoko Kusakabe
  5. Changing tides by Nikita Gopal
  6. Managing Mercado del Mar by  Carmen Pedroza-Gutiérrez
  7. What’s new Webby? Community conservation network by Anthony Charles
  8. Women in Fisheries Network (Fiji) by  Loata Leweniqila
  9. Q&A Interview with Ujjwala Jaykishan Patil by Priyanka Mangela
  10. Yemaya Mama – The picture isn’t complete without gender equality!
  11. Yemaya Recommends – ICSF Document: Workshop on Enhancing Capacities of Women Fishworkers in India. Reviewed by Ahana Lakshmi

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Posted in Fiji, Gender, India, Kerala, Mexico, Thailand, Uganda, Women

Videos capture women in action in the seafood sector

Posted on June 20, 2017 | Leave a comment

The results of the Women in Seafood video competition are now out and all the videos can be viewed through this WSI website link.

map image

Click this link to go to the interactive map and open the videos. The videos are interesting, often inspiring, and all are short and to the point, ranging from 2 to 5 minutes.

Congratulations to the competition winner Carmen Pedroza-Gutiérrez for her video, “The Women of Petatán,” a very thoughtful set of interviews with women fish filleters as they worked on processing piles of fish to prepare them for the market. The video was made in Petatán , Michoacán, Mexico.

Other videos were:

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Posted in Advocacy, Africa, Americas, Aquaculture, Asia, Australia, awards, Bangladesh, Canada, Cecile Brugere, communication resources, Costa Rica, Europe, Events, awards, grants, employment, Fish post-harvest, Fisheries, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Nova Scotia

Mapping the action on International Women’s Day ’17

Posted on March 21, 2017 | 1 comment

Map showing the locations (mainly at country resolution level) for events and news about women in aquaculture, fisheries and seafood in honor of International Women’s Day 2017. If you have more events from 8 March 2017 to put on this map, please let us know at: e-mail genderaquafish@gmail.com.

IWD-17-image-1

Click this LINK to view the interactive version of of the above map, created with eSpatial mapping software.

Before, during and after 8 March 2017 (International Women’s Day), news, tweets and posts flooded in relating to the Day. Our group shared these events via two roundup messages. We have now put the events onto the map above, using eSpatial mapping software, and generous assistance from Ciara at eSpatial (thank you Ciara!).

To read the details of any event, click on the marker for it. We have placed the event marker on the country (sometimes city or state) where the event happened, although many have global or regional significance.

This seemed to be the most active IWD ever from a fisheries, aquaculture and seafood industry perspective. Let’s hope it is a sign of an active and fruitful year ahead for gender equality in the sector!

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Posted in Africa, Aquaculture, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Conservation, Events, FAO, UN Women, World Bank, IFAD, UNIDO and other multilateral, Fiji, Fish post-harvest, Fisheries, France, Gender, Global, Goa, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Kerala, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pacific, Oceania, Regional, Samoa, Seafood industry, South Africa, Sweden, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States of America, Women