Category Archives: Bohol

Reflections on gleaning

Posted on February 23, 2016 | Leave a comment
BrotherSisterGleaningBilangbilangan,Bohol,Philippines,2011-DK

Brother and sister gleaning, Bilangbilangan, Bohol, Philippines, 2011. Photo: Danika Kleiber

By Margaret (Nonas) Kunkel, Masters Student, Asian Studies, Murdoch University, Australia. E-mail: mnonas@iinet.net.au

Also see our overview of gleaning and gender: Discover Gleaning

The Philippines is one of Southeast Asia’s many diverse cultural regions, and together with other Asian nations is in an area that has gone through tremendous changes, economic, social and environmental. Changes which have occurred through not only local policy but from colonial times, through to the present concept of globalism[1]  The poorest members of society live in agricultural areas and work as farmers or fishers or in urban cities work in the informal sector. One of the important areas of employment for the unskilled worker due to its many coastal, lake and inland waterways is the fishing industry.

From coastal fishing which has almost destroyed the sea gypsies of the country to small scale fisheries women are important members of this industry. They can work close to their homes, choose the hours they want and don’t require a lot of gear, whilst their children can go along with them so childcare is not necessary. Also where spiritual or gender roles prohibit women partaking in certain employment, such as fishing in boats, gleaning is an ideal way to supplement the family income. Women are not restricted by biological means but can be restricted by cultural norms. Women collect what is on the bottom of the waterways, the invertebrates whose habitats can be in reefs, mangroves and seagrass generally using their hands to collect such items as octopus, squid, prawns, crab, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. These practices are often done at night with torches or lanterns to see the catch.

Gleaning according to Klieber[2] who did research in the Bohol region, is rarely counted however when statistics are being looked at to determine how many people are involved in the fishing industry. Marine protected areas (MPAs), restricting the areas where women can glean, and the views of other stakeholders, government, big business and such also affect their efforts. Promoting gender equality is the most important part of alleviating poverty and creating equality. Programs, including women’s participation, using local knowledge and cultural adaption, community controlled MPAs which restrict ‘Malthusian’ overfishing of the local commons is one way at least to reclaim equality for many workers in the small scale fishing industry.

On Batasan Island, one of the six island Barangays of the municipality of Tubingen in the Bohol region of the Philippines, women and children glean shells, seaweed etc at low tide to support household income. This may be necessary as the women often spend their household income on illegal gambling because they are bored.[3] One negative effect of these practices is that some families force their children to leave school to help them with the gleaning, thus affecting their children’s education. School attendance in the barangays is extremely low which in turn leads to a cycle of poverty as the children eventually have to resort to the same methods of earning an income in the future.[4]

[1] Hofman, B, J Nye, S Rood & V Nehru, 2012. Economic and Political Challenges in the Philippines. http://carnegieendowment.org/2012/04/27/economic-and-political-challenges-in-philippines

[2] Kleiber, DL. 2014. Gender and Small-Scale Fisheries in the Central Philippines. University of British Colombia, PhD Thesis. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286084034_Gender_and_small-scale_fisheries_in_the_Central_Philippines

[3] Gonzales E & Savaris J 2005. International Seafood Trade: Supporting Sustainable Livelihoods Among Poor Aquatic Resource Users in Asia (EP/R03/014). Output 2 Marine Ornamentals trade in the Philippines and options for its poor stakeholders Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd, Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), and the STREAM Initiative.

[4] Macfadyen, G., R Banks, M Phillips, G Haylor, L Mazaudier & P Salz. 2003. Output 1 Background paper on the International Seafood Trade and Poverty. Prepared under the DFID-funded ECPREP project (EP/R03/014) “International Seafood Trade: Supporting Sustainable Livelihoods Among Poor Aquatic Resource Users in Asia”. Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd (UK), Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific and STREAM Initiative.

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Posted in Bohol, Danika Kleiber, Fisheries, gleaning, Philippines, Uncategorized

Gender and small-scale fisheries in the central Philippines

Posted on September 21, 2014 | Leave a comment
People reef gleaning at low tide, Danajon Bank, Bohol Province, Central Philippines. Photo: Danika Kleiber.

People reef gleaning at low tide, Danajon Bank, Bohol Province, Central Philippines. Photo: Danika Kleiber.

In earlier posts on this site, we highlighted papers arising from the work of Danika Kleiber and her colleagues on gender in the Northern Bohol section of the Danajon Bank in the Central Philippines and on a global overview of gender in small scale fisheries. With pleasure, we draw your attention to Danika’s doctoral thesis, recently accepted by the University of British Columbia, Canada, and entitled: GENDER AND SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES IN THE CENTRAL PHILIPPINES. This thesis, as well as its accompanying papers, make a compelling and empirically justified case for the importance of factoring in women’s fishing work in fisheries management, policy and economics.

Here is the link to the thesis

And the links to our two earlier posts on Dr Kleiber’s work:

Counting all the fishers: a global overview

Philippines reef study shows the importance of defining “fishing”

Abstract of Thesis: This dissertation provides new evidence for why women should be included in smallscale fisheries assessments. Women are commonly overlooked in fisheries science and management because they are assumed not to fish, or to fish very little. My research focuses on community-based managed fisheries in the Central Philippines. I begin with a literature review of women’s fishing around the world, revealing that it is common, diverse, and dynamic. Women fishers also often focus on species and habitats different from those in men’s fishing. Notably, however, the review also identified a considerable data gap in quantitative assessments of women’s fishing.

I designed my case study specifically to quantify women’s contributions to the total community catch and effort. I found that women – who totaled 42% of all fishers – generated about one quarter of the total fishing effort and of the catch biomass. Explicit consideration of women’s fishing cast a spotlight on gleaning, an overlooked fishing method in which animals are collected in intertidal habitats. Almost all the women and half of the men gleaned. I found that gleaning primarily targeted sessile invertebrates, and was an important source of food, particularly when other fishing was not available.

Marine management that affects gleaners – such as no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) placed in intertidal areas – needs to consider distinct ecological and social features of gleaning. On that basis, I used a gender lens to examine community-based management in the form of no-take MPAs. In this cultural context resource management is a male sphere, both in perception and in practice. Women were less likely to feel that the MPA had a positive effect on their fishing, with MPAs mostly identified as a management measure for finfish. Women were also less likely to participate actively in MPA management.

In summary, my focus on women should prompt reexamination of how fishing is defined, who counts, and who is counted. Integration of women’s issues into fisheries management requires attention to gleaning, and exploration of alternative management methods. To overlook women, however, creates substantial underestimation of fishing labour and catch – with consequent worsening of our prospects for fisheries management globally.

 

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Posted in Asia, Bohol, Country, Danika Kleiber, Events, awards, grants, employment, Fisheries, Gender, Gendered labor studies, Geography, gleaning, Global, Men, Natural resource management, Philippines, Regional, Women

Philippines reef study shows the importance of defining “fishing”

Posted on February 3, 2014 | 4 comments
Woman reef gleaning on a reef on the Danajon Bank, Bohol Province, Central Philippines. Photo: Danika Kleiber.

Woman reef gleaning on a reef on the Danajon Bank, Bohol Province, Central Philippines. Photo: Danika Kleiber.

Danika Kleiber and her co-authors have made a welcome contribution to the information on total fisheries harvest and the often un-recorded harvests of women and men, especially by reef gleaning. Working with local communities who live and work on the reefs on Danajon Bank, Bohol Province Central Philippines,  and 4 Cebuano-speaking research assistants (see photo), they have estimated  total catches and participation in all types of fishing including reef gleaning, an important local activity.  Their paper is: “Improving fisheries estimates by including women’s catch in the Central Philippines” (Danika Kleiber, Leila M Harris, Amanda C J Vincent in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences).

In the paper, they report on how the number of fishers, the percentage of women fishers, the total catch and its composition changes depending on the definition of fishing used. Including gleaning as fishing had a particularly strong effect. They distinguish the “cultural” and “livelihood” definitions of fishing. In the cultural definition, fishing tends to be a more male focused activity and does not include gleaning, even though some men also glean. In the livelihood definition, fishing and gleaning, especially of women, may not feature because it is secondary. Thus, using the cultural definition of fishing yielded only 20% of the fishers were women, and using the livelihood definition only 16%. If fishing is defined to include all the activities that harvest marine life, then 42% of fishers are women. In the communities studied, men outnumbered women who tended to have higher out-migration.

E-mail contact: Danika Kleiber@gmail.com

Field enumerators and the senior author. L to R: Aileen Montejo, Jay Estrella, Danika Kleiber, Bernie Calinajan, Venice Lazo. Photo: Danika Kleiber.

Field enumerators and the senior author. L to R: Aileen Montejo, Jay Estrella, Danika Kleiber, Bernie Calinajan, Venice Lazo. Photo: Danika Kleiber.

Abstract: Small-scale fisheries catch and effort estimates are often built on incomplete data because they overlook the fishing of minority or marginalized groups. Women do participate in small-scale fisheries, and often in ways distinct from men’s fishing. Hence, the inclusion of women’s fishing is necessary to understanding the diversity and totality of human fishing efforts. This case study examines how the inclusion of women’s fishing alters the enumeration of fishers, and estimations of catch weight, fishing effort, and targeted organisms in twelve communities in the Central Philippines. Women were 42% of all fishers, and contributed approximately one quarter of the fishing effort and catch weight. Narrower definitions of fishing that excluded gleaning (gathering of benthic macro invertebrates in intertidal areas) and part-time fishing masked the participation and contribution of most women fishers. In this case study it is clear that overlooking women, part-time, or gleaning fishers led to the underestimation of fishing effort and catch weight. Overlooking gleaning had also led to underestimation of shells and other benthic macro invertebrates in fishing catches.

People reef gleaning at low tide, Danajon Bank, Bohol Province, Central Philippines. Photo: Danika Kleiber.

People reef gleaning at low tide, Danajon Bank, Bohol Province, Central Philippines. Photo: Danika Kleiber.

See Danika’s post in 2011 on some of her data collecting techniques: http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca/node/431

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Posted in Bohol, Danika Kleiber, Fisheries, Gender, Gender and development, Gender research resources, Gendered labor studies, gleaning, Men, Natural resource management, Philippines, Women