Practical Guide

Practical Notebook
on the possibilities for
the inclusion of women
related to small-scale coastal fishing

2016
2

Editorial Box:
BSP CONSULT BG
9700 Shumen
29 Vasil Levski str., bl.2, vh.G
e-mail: sp_consult@abv.bg
http://smallscalefishing.eu

Publisher: Strategma Agency Ltd.

2016
All rights reserved
 3

Content

1. Introduction 5

2. Small-scale fishermen worldwide and

in Europe 7

Around the world 7

In Europe 14

In Bulgaria 21

3. Development of fishing policy from the perspective of participation of

women in the period 2014-2020 22

4. Strengthening the role of women in the economy: unused resources 27

5. Women in SSF: traditional roles and opportunities 29

6. Promoting the role of women in fishing communities 31

7. Encouraging activity in the work of associations and CS and the LIFE plat-
form 46

8. Conclusion 49

References 50

Application 51
4

ACRONYMS

BAFS Bulgarian Food Safety Agency

RES Renewable Energy Sources

SSF small-scale fishing (fishermen)

European Marine and Fisheries Fund

EU European Union

EFF European Fisheries Fund

AHL Animal Health Law

LFA Law on Fisheries and Aquaculture

ZUSESIF Law on management of the funds from the European structural

and investment funds

FLAG Fisheries Local Action Groups

FAOUN Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

OPF Operational programme fisheries 2007-2013

CFP Common Fisheries Policy

CMD Council of Ministers Decree

RACF Regional Advisory Council for Fisheries

AKTEA European network of womens organisations in the fisheries

and aquaculture sector

FARNET European network of fisheries areas supported by Axis 4

of the EFF

ICSF International Collective in Support of Fishworkers

LIFE Low Impact Fisheries of Europe

STEFC Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries


1. Introduction
The present edition is the result of the
implementation of Pilot project: Meas-
ures to support small-scale fisheries,
EU Grant Agreement: MARE/2014/04 -
SI2.724176 and SP CONSULT BG.
The aim of this financial assistance is to
increase the public awareness about the
role of small-scale fisheries in future de-
cisions on the relevant policies at national
and European level through implementa-
tion of good practices, applicable in the
Black Sea basin region.
The projects is primary intention is to
establish a European Association of fish-
ermen of the Black Sea, to do research
and analyses for the purpose of write
manuals, articles and etc. that will assist
the researched sector. More than 130 rep-
resentatives of small-scale fisheries from
the Republics of Bulgaria and Romania
will be trained. Exchange of experiences
in Great Britain id envisaged as a country
with strong traditions in this industry.
This edition is intended for representa-
tives of organizations of small-scale fish-
ermen and other stakeholders concerned
in this sector. The manual reflects only
the position of the author(s) and the Com-
mission shall not be held responsible for
the information included therein.
5
This guide presents the development of
the role of women in small-scale coast-
al fisheries in its development, present
condition and future prospects on global,
European and national scale. The pres-
entation addresses the issues of fisheries
policy in the new programming period
2014-2020 and the presence of women in
it, the general problem of the untapped
potential of women in the economy, and
tracks historically the traditional female
roles in the small-scale fishing commu-
nities and the ongoing changes, which
open new opportunities for them. Spe-
cial attention is given to the promotion
of the active role of women in the sector
through certain supporting functions they
could perform, such as accounting, re-
lated administrative activities, activities
related to participation in existing asso-
ciations, councils and Internet platforms.
Tips are included for setting a policy for
marketing of the production and securing
entrepreneurial capital, using the catch
as a resource. The empowerment that
collective action can provide to women
in the fishing communities is elaborated
in the review of the practice, experi-
ences, successes and obstacles to local,
national and transnational associations
and organizations.
6

The guide helps people employed in the For further information, the Application
fishing sector to get orientated in the contains a list of links to studies of wom-
overall picture of the lifestyles of fish- en in the fisheries sector and their roles
ing communities round the world and in and achievements in the European Union
Europe and to better comprehend their and in individual Member States.
place in it. It highlights the develop-
ment of the situation and the forecasts
for future opportunities, and offers ad-
vice about ways in which women can be
more efficient, successful and influen-
tial in determining the rules in the sec-
tor and increasing the welfare of their
families and communities.

2. Small-scale fishermen worldwide and
in Europe
round the world
Small-scale fishing communities have a
widely recognized contribution to food
security, employment, incomes and to
providing the livelihood of many poor
people around the world. The variety of
coastal resources creates opportunities
for these people. Because of the relative
easiness of becoming a fisherman, many
people all over the world depend wholly
or partly on fishing for the subsistence of
their families.
7
According to the latest data of the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the UN
(FAOUN, 2012) at present 87.3% of the
fishing areas globally are either fully or
over-exploited. This is complemented by
a range of other human activities that
lead to pollution of the coastline and de-
stroying habitats, which further reduces
the resources. The subsidies in the fish-
eries sector in the past increased the
over-pressure on the resources, and the
8
destructive fishing methods threaten the
functioning of the broader ecosystems in
many coastal areas. The increasing global
demand for fish by various users and the
penetration of the global market chains
in nearly all corners of the world also
create incentives for over-exploitation of
the waters. The climate changes are al-
ready affecting the coastal habitats (such
as coral reefs, which are under serious
threat of destruction).
In addition to the natural challenges, fish-
ermen are confronted with economic dif-
ficulties, including the cost of fuels and
food, changes in the market structures
that force them to respect the global en-
vironmental imperative of the contempo-
rary society and the dynamic changes that
occur in local and national economies. Es-
sentially, the support for the sector in the
current situation means a contribution to
keeping the population in the coastal are-
as and protecting the ecosystems.
The small-scale coastal fishing is or-
ganized mainly in family enterprises of
communities with rooted tradition, local
knowledge and culture. The catch of fish
in the sea is clearly dominated by men,
but women play a key role in the activ-
ities in their entirety. They are the con-
nection between fishing activities at sea
and shore-based support and distribu-
tion of goods produced in the community
and in society. Small-scale fishermen are
mainly self-employed, independent own-
ers and operators of boats, fishing crew
and workers who often receive a share of
the catch.
The small-scale fishermen and their sup-
ply chain and service functions cover a
large number of people involved in fish
processing, marketing, production of
boats and nets. They also form a part of
the tourist industry.
On the one hand, the deliveries of local
fresh fish and the specificity of the local
dishes are an essential part of the hospi-
tality service that makes it attractive to
visitors; on the other, anglers themselves
with their traditional practices and even
with their vision represent one of the at-
tractions of coastal zones.
Small-scale fishermen have many advan-
tages over large industrial fishing vessels
in terms of their relatively low environ-
mental impact and high social dimen-
sions. They can and in many places they
do provide substantial indirect employ-
ment in ancillary activities.
Since fishing entrepreneurs and farms
always adapt to specific marine ecosys-
tems, their management needs are dif-
ferent. For example, in the cold waters
small-scale fishermen usually fish for a
few species, while in tropical waters the
variety of species is great. This means
also a wide variety of fishing gear, part
of which is not used most of the year. So
the nature of the marine ecosystem that
is exploited is an important determinant
of many of the cultural characteristics of
the fishing communities.
Globally, the assets related to the ac-
tivities of coastal fishermen are basical-
ly four types: natural, physical, finan-
cial and human. The natural assets are
the marine ecosystems and the species

that inhabit them. Physical assets are the
fishing vessels, the fishing gear and the
equipment used for the harvest process-
ing and sale. Financial assets are required
to maintain the operations, providing
physical assets and for provision of the
other social and economic activities of
the fishermen. The human resources, in-
cluding skills and information used in the
fishery activities, and the broader accu-
mulated knowledge about life in a fishing
community are considered a part of the
respective local cultural heritage.
The sense of pride with their occupa-
tion and the addiction to the lifestyle of
a fisherman is typical among the coast-
al fishermen. Sea fishing requires greater
independence, self-confidence, autono-
my, risk-taking and combating the forc-
es of nature. These are not only impor-
tant characteristics of ones identity, but
also a feeling of satisfaction that is not
measured only on an economic basis. For
them, fishing is not just a means of pro-
viding income, but also an activity that is
experienced as rewarding as a meaningful
way of life.
The dominant fishing techniques are of-
ten the result of considerable accumulat-
ed experience. They stem from adapting
to the specific marine ecosystem, which
is exploited and the opportunities the
fishermen actually have to procure the
needed fishing gear. These include not
only fishing tackle, but also the knowl-
edge of them - manufacture, use, main-
tenance - which is an important element
of the culture of the fishing community.
Fishing nets, elements of the vessels and
9
trophies become cultural symbols that
form part of the identity of the fishermen
and their skills and are often included in
various rituals.
Technological innovations can provide
significant improvements in small-scale
fisheries. The abrupt replacement of the
traditional with new tools, however, can
have disastrous consequences on com-
munities in the form of increased levels
of ecosystem degradation and resource
depletion. The growing dependence on
more expensive technologies increases
production rates and can sometimes leed
fishermen to a bankruptcy.
Small-scale fishermen have valuable eco-
logical knowledge, which includes in-
formation on the time and conditions
under which certain species are availa-
ble, how to fish and the accessories that
are the most effective for the harvest
when such conditions are met during the
periods in question.
Maintaining the catch over the years re-
quires that fishermen apply a conserva-
tive approach to fishing. Among the fac-
tors that necessitate it are:
inability to accurately forecast avail-
ability of passages and future harvest;
inability to accurately predict the
future market prices of fish;
inability to accurately predict future
climatic conditions;
uncertain access to health insurance
and business insurance, as well as loans
for operating activities.
10
Maintaining other income opportunities is
an important tool to reduce the risk and
uncertainty, associated with fishing as a
form of employment. Since the sea is less
predictable, most fishermen must have
other sources to switch to during the
off-seasons. Most often the complemen-
tary activities are also seasonal in nature,
but beyond the fishing season.
The many roles that women play in these
communities emphasize their basic im-
portance in socio-economic terms and for
their general well-being. They often pos-
sess independence and economic autono-
my. Moreover, they often form socio-eco-
nomic networks that help them in selling
the harvest and in other activities. More
often women deal with the fish process-
ing. Although the work is not as risky as
the one in the sea, it is also related to
possible injuries and medical problems.
Nowadays the economic contribution of
women in the small-scale fishing com-
munities still remains the processing and
marketing of the fish, but with the rapid
changes in the socially stablished practic-
es with regard to which roles and activi-
ties are siutable for women, they are in-
creasingly involved in fishing as well. With
advanced age women tend to reduce
their participation - according to global
statistics women over the age of 60 are
only 5%. This may be due to the fact that
fishing activities require energy and wom-
en should be physically strong to handle
most of the tasks.
The activities of women - paid and unpaid
- including all along the value chain and
activities before and after the catch: ed-
ible shellfish collection, fishing, knitting
and repairing nets, sorting and processing
the fish, production of fishery products
and sale and distribution. They have lo-
cal and traditional ecological knowledge,
which is a valuable contribution to the
sustainable use and conservation of ma-
rine ecosystems.
Often women cannot protect their la-
bor rights because their economic role is
not formally recognized. They have lim-
ited access to social insurece, funds and
loans. They work very often in insecure
and problematic hygienic conditions. Glo-
balization, privatization, pollution and
climate change have led to decreasing
access to fish for processing and sale.
The lack of access to funding for wom-
en means no resources to purchase the
necessary equipment for the storage of
fish, maintaining high quality and fresh-
ness, which reduces their control over the
markets.
In 2010, the International Collective in
Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), an interna-
tional NGO that works for equality, gender
balance, independence and sustainability
in the fisheries sector, and in particular
in small-scale coastal fishing achieved
an international agreement called the
Common Agenda for sustainable living
and well-being of fishing communities
and equal participation of women. The
agenda was adopted by a wide network
of women from fishing organizations,

academic communities, practitioners, so-
cial activists and other civil society or-
ganizations. This common agenda was
used for inclusion of gender issues in the
Voluntary guidelines for securing sus-
tainable small-scale fisheries in the con-
text of food security and poverty eradica-
tion, adopted by the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations in
2014 and Voluntary guidelines on the re-
sponsible governance of tenure of land,
fisheries and forests(2012). The guide-
lines emphasize the key role of women
in small-scale fisheries and point out that
achieving gender equality is crucial for
sustainable fishing.
The implementation of the guidelines
is essential in enabling women to ac-
quire ownership rights, equal participa-
tion in decision-making and protection
from discrimination.
Overall, although the specific forms of
womens work in the fishing sector are
different in the different cultures and re-
gions, and between rural and urban ar-
eas, it is rarely seen as productive. It
has low social value and is perceived as
a continuation of the household. Realis-
tically, however, by participating women
strengthen the fishermens organizations
and expand their business. Their merit
is the focus on the quality of life in the
fishing communities, such as access to
health, education, hygiene.
11
The analysis of the gender roles in the fish-
eries sector, which is being made in view
of achieving a balance in the participa-
tion in its economic dimension, describes
the womens place in the global value
chain. The framework of this analysis has
three sections - profile of the activities
(who does what), profile of the access and
control (wh has what) and analysis of the
factors and trends (what is the socio-eco-
nomic context). The profile of activities
considers what work is performed by men
and women, where and when. So far the
analyses of this type show that the role
assigned to women is still strongly tied to
the local culture. In the developed coun-
tries, for example, the participation of
women is concentrated at the end of the
value chain and has greater social pres-
tige, while in the developing countries it
is spred along the entire chain and has
the lowest status.
The reasons why women are not visible
in the fishing industry are rooted in the
fact that the activities they are perform
generally overlooked not only by econo-
mists and analysts, but very often by the
authorities (Hitomi, 2009). Therefore the
analysis of the gender value chain was in-
troduced with the goal of maximizing rev-
enues for both men and women involved
at its various levels. This type of analysis
is important since it emphasizes the dif-
ferent positions and contribution of men
and women along the chain and reveals
the economic and organizational relation-
ships between participants located in dif-
ferent parts of the value chain in fishing.
12

It highlights the distribution of potential

and actual benefits, the delegation of au-
thority, the ownership of resources. This
creates opportunities for targeting of the
support and providing incentives for re-
ducing the number of intermediaries, in-
creasing the small-scale fishermens abil-
ity to negotiate and provinding access to
appropriate technologies for processing,
storage and transport, so that fishermen
with scarce resources can capture larger
amounts of value-added products in the
global value chain.
Almost all the studies in the fisheries sec-
tor, whose number has increased sharp-
ly over the last decade compared to the
previous, reached the conclusion that
the participation of women is more sig-
nificant then it is commonly considered.
According to the nine countries that are
among the largest fish producers in the
world, they constitute 46% of the work-
force when the activities before and after
the harvest are included. Their current
participation is determined by the rapidly
shrinking amount of the resources on the
one hand and by the increased global de-
mand on the other.

The latest research of the World Fish
Center on the role of women was fo-
cused on three main aspects:
. markets, trade, migration
Men and women occupy different posi-
tions in the fish supply chain. Although
they have very limited participation in
fishing per se, the main involvement of
women is most often in the process-
ing and trade. Most government and
international interventions are concen-
trated on the regulation of the fishing
activity, gear and access rights rather
than on improving the processing and
market access. The new industries can
create new opportunities for women,
such as the cultivation of algae or small
processing factories.
b. Identities and networks
Membership in formal organizations
such as associations or cooperatives is
more typical of men. While many men
take pride in their profession of fisher-
men, little is known about the identity
of women in the fishing communities.
Identity is fundamentally linked to the
sense of belonging to networks and
forms of social structures and process-
es, and cultural norms.
13
c. climate change, disasters and
resilience
Why gender is important as regards
small-scale fisheries? The sector is tra-
ditionally percieved as male, including
because it is associated with a sense
of adventure and risk, where women
are generally excluded. Gender dispar-
ities can lead to decreased labor pro-
ductivity in the sector and inefficient
allocation of labor at the community
and national level. The current condi-
tions generally restrict women to the
low levels of the supply chain in the
so-called informal sector. Like in ag-
riculture and forestry, women often
constitute a large percentage of the
population in poverty in the fish pro-
duction. Climate change further exac-
erbates the problem.
There is growing evidence that
countries where there are achieve-
ments towards gender equality,
achieve greater economic growth and
overall well-being.
14

In Europe
As in other parts of the world, small-scale Small-scale fishing can also include:
coastal fishermen in Europe develop in
time and space from specific ecological Freshwater catches;
and changing socio-economic and cultur- Auxiliary activities (production of
al context, marked by variety rather than fishing gear, net repairing);
uniformity. Therefore, all discussions on
the issue should consider the fact that Processing and marketing;
there is a problem with their definition. Management of the fishery firms.
Definitions are not universally applicable
and what in one situation can be defined
as small-scale, in another will be medium
or large-scale.

Source: Pavel Salz, Framian bv,

Graeme Macfadyen, Poseidon Ltd.,
Regional Dependency on Fisheries,
Parlement europen, 2007.

Its defining criteria, used in the EU, are:
Structural characteristics - size and
/ or capacity of the vessel (length,
tonnage or HP / Kw); used fishing
tackle;
Territory / range: location of the
fishing zone - distance from shore,
time in the sea;
Socio-economic criteria: kinship of
the crew; benefits-sharing system
(salary, catch and profits); size and
fund structure of the fishing enter-
prise, nature of the enterprise - a
cooperative, private owner, family,
joint venture, etc.)
Other criteria (seasonal variety and
fishing accessories), traditional prac-
tices (closed seasons, closed areas,
joint management, etc.).
Another way of definition is the degree
of industrialization, where the categories
are artisanal, semi-industrialized, indus-
trialized fishing companies.
The main difference between Europe
and other parts of the world, to which
FAOUNs attention is focused like Asia
and the Pacific is that European coun-
tries have no communities dependent on
fishing. If a fisherman loses his job, there
is a social security system that provides
unemployment benefits, requalification
opportunities etc. However, if the com-
munities inhabiting the coasts lose fish-
ing as an activity, the chances of alter-
15
native employment could be scarce and
therefore the price of this option is high.
Furthermore, the loss of activity of SSF is
accompanied by loss of skills, traditions,
knowledge and culture, which constitute
the social basis of the communities. It is
therefore important that they are pro-
tected as a unique sector with important
contribution.
A key contribution of SSF is that in many
parts of Europe they take various initia-
tives for responsible fisheries, such as:
Prudhommes de Pche French
Mediterranean
Marine Reserve, created by Lira
and Cedeira in northern Spain
Restinga Marine Reserve (El
Hierero - Canary Islands, Mar de
las Calmas, Spain)
The involvement of French fishermen
in the management of Iroise National
Park in western France
Selective catch of lobster
(langoustine / nephrops trawl
fishery) in the Bay of Biscay
Agreement on the midline of the
English Channel between Britain,
France and Belgium
Inshore Potting Agreement in Devon.
16
Sea fishing is the exclusive jurisdiction
of 7 EU institutions, where the main
ones are: other areas or from the coast - are under
The Council of Ministers of the
Member States
legislative and executive functions
focusing the greatest power;
The European Commission
delegated executive, legislative and
quasi-judicial functions; co-decision;
The European Parliament
certain legislative and executive
functions.
Other important EU institutions are:
The European Court of Auditors
financial / budget / audit functions;
European Court of Justice
judicial functions.
In 2012 FAOUN issued Voluntary guide-
lines for governance of tenure of land,
fisheries and forests in the context of na-
tional food security. Their purpose is to
serve as a reference point for improving
the management, with the long-term goal
of progressive support of peoples right to
adequate food in the context of national
food security. They are intended to con-
tribute to the global and national efforts
to eradicate hunger and poverty on the
basis of the principles of sustainable de-
velopment.
To better understand how to apply the
Voluntary Guidelines on SSF in Europe,
it is important to comprehend how they
apply at EU and at Member State level.
Above all, the fishing policy of the EU -
OPF - applies only to maritime fishermen.
Freshwater fishing - estuaries, lagoons and
the jurisdiction of the Member States.
In addition, Member States have special
rights over the 12-mile zone where most
of the activities of a SSF are concentrat-
ed. For this and other reasons, it can be
argued that SSF is a sub-sector, for which
the most appropriate level of government
is the national as regards governance and
policy-making.
The Voluntary guidelines are important
because SSF have a different status com-
pared to large-scale fishermen. By join-
ing the EU, Member States confer com-
petences for the fisheries management to
the European Commission in the waters
within 200 miles (Community waters) and
in terms of international waters and the
waters of third countries for vessels regis-
tered in the European countries.
In Europe small-scale coastal fishing pro-
vides a high level of employment and is
not only socially, but alsoenvironmental-
ly sustainable form of fishing. For most
coastal areas this is a way of life and a sig-
nificant source of subsistence. Therefore
it recognized at EU level that it should be
encouraged in order to survive and should
be given an impetus for economic devel-
opment. As a new target of a common
fishery policy, the EU has set ensuring
preferential access of SSF within 12-mile
maritime zone, i.e. in the most sensitive
part of the Community waters.
In the European Community a total of
500,000 fishing vessels are registered and
the small-scale fishing fleet consists of over

12 million. Both however each provide 30
million tons of annual catch for the mar-
ket. It is important to note that the fish-
ing ships reach that amount, utilizing 37
million tons of fuel, while the small-scale
fishermen - only 5 million tons. Yet an-
other fact of key signifcance - large ships
discard between 8 and 20 million tons of
extra harvest in the sea annually, which
is generally prohibited, while with the SSF
this practice is extemely restricted.
Meanwhile, these fishermen are faced
with many problems, the most acute
among them beiong the preservation
of their fishing areas, conflicts with the
trawls of large ships, the need for a spe-
cial status to be guaranteed by law, etc.
Ten years ago in Europe more than 100
000 women were statistically recorded as
employed in the fishing sector, but meas-
uring their contribution represents a con-
siderable difficulty. Statistics for example
does not include women working full or
part-time in family businesses without
being legally recognized and without the
associated benefits.
Women do not have a special place in the
framework of the reform of the Common
Fisheries Policy. For the first time the
new European Marine and Fisheries Fund
(EMFF) recognizes the role that women
play in the fishing family business. From
now on they will be able to benefit from
support and training, in particular for ac-
quiring skills related to entrepreneurship
and business management.
17
In the European countries, women control
39% of the fishing industry and provide
solid income for themselves and their
families (Aquilar, 2002). The key role of
women in professions based on natural
resources such as fishing, has long been
accepted, but has not been recognized
and appreciated the way the role of men
is (Obetta et al., 2007). One of the main
factors that limit womens participation
in economic activities such as fishing is
the lack of access to and control over
the production process (Acharya, 2003).
According to researchers, women in ru-
ral areas participate more actively in the
traditional fishing sector.
Attention to womens participation in the
sector in Europe increased at the begin-
ning of the century. One of the first stud-
ies - Women in small-scale fishing, 2002
- showed that despite the cultural and
economic diversity in the EU, with regard
to the fisheries sector the perception of
women demonstrates a high level of sim-
ilarity.
Women do not feel well accepted
in marine fishering, but they are re-
luctant to participate anyway. It is
therefore not surprising that their
number in it is very small. Women
play a very small role in the fishing
proper (3% in the EU), ranging be-
tween 0 and 7% across the states,
and in general their inclusion is pe-
ripheral.
Women feel discriminated in aqua-
culture, but to a much lesser extent
and are more widely involved. In
this area there are some activities
18
specifically run by women. The av-
erage level of participation for the
EU states is 27% (ranging from 3 to
44%). The lower limit (for the Neth-
erlands) is considered unrepresenta-
tive. It likely reflects the fact that
aquaculture in the Netherlands is
mainly comprised of mussels, which
is an activity closer to fishing than to
the farm breeding. The summarized
data undoubtedly conceal the re-
gional characteristics (for example,
in regions such as Galicia aquaculture
is traditionally a female occupation).
Processing is the only sub-sector in
which women are over-represented,
but mainly because they dominate
in low-paid unskilled labor. On aver-
age, they represent a small major-
ity (53%), but the range is wide in
the different Member States - from
11 to 75%. In most EU countries the
percentage is between 40 and 60
percent, and only in Greece the par-
ticipation of women is markedly less
(11%).
Women have greater presence in the
segments of management/ adminis-
tration, which are more favorable for
them and are perceived in a more
positive light. Womens participation
in these activities amounts to 39% on
average, which is even higher than
expected. The percentage is due
much more to the public (regulation,
research, training) than to the indus-
trial sector.
Economic discrimination against
women has been observed in the
sector. They are paid 12% lower than
men for the same work. However,
this is less than the average pay gap
in the economies of the EU coun-
tries, which is about 22%.
Finally, the role of women as support
for active (marine) fishermen is re-
garded as very important and highly
undervalued by the fishing communi-
ties. In some areas the unpaid work
of women in support of family fish-
eries is actually the only connection
they have to the sector. Besides do-
ing housework and raising children,
it includes specific activities related
to the on-shore management (espe-
cially when men spend longer time
in the sea).
Their inclusion or non-inclusion, particu-
larly in the fishing itself is dependent
upon several external and psychological
factors, which include:
(i) the overall perception of external
pressure that discourages women for
several reasons: they sre not strong
enough, it is too dangerous, they
bring bad luck on board;
(ii) lack of willingness because they find
fishing unattractive associated with
inconveniences, hazards, absence of
normal conditions, low status and
rough male company;
(iii) the concept of the sector as provid-
ing poor career prospects. This is not
only due to the gender characteris-

tics. Women are aware of the dwin-
dling employment opportunities,
problems with the resources and the
fact that the most non-prestigious
positions are the most accessible to
them (processing), as well as of the
descending trend (manual labor is
replaced by machines or transferred
to economies with lower cost). That
is why many women invest efforts in
preventing their children from enter-
ing the sector.
In this situation the types of activities in-
volving women fall into four main catego-
ries, ranging from management tasks to
administration. In a netshell, they are:
Overall control: in the company, the
woman allows her husband to in-
dulge in fishing, exempting him from
all financial, fiscal, administrative
and marketing duties and supplies;
Communications: providing the nec-
essary business communications.
With the development of the tech-
nologies, this function becomes in-
creasingly shared between men and
women because it can be carried out
from boats.
Accounting: keeping the books of in-
come and expenditure, working with
banks and public financial and other
requirements.
Marketing: maintaining a market-
ing network, monitoring the current
prices, active sales of fish, negotiat-
ing bargains, active marketing.
19
Several EU directives reffering
to womens rights and directly binding on
all Member States complement the provi-
sions of the Treaty of the European Union,
which are considered directly applicable
by the European Court of Justice. Howev-
er, the methods of transposing and imple-
menting these directives in the Member
States are different: the interpretation of
the relevant national regulations some-
times leads to very different results. In
these circumstances, the legal framework
and its actual implementation in terms of
women employed in small-scale fisheries
vary significantly across the EU states.
Special womens associations in the fish-
ing industry are rather an exception than
the rule, but significant changes have
occurred in this aspect. Education and
training appear crucial to improve the
status of women. According to the results
there are some opportunities for special-
ized training, or at least in principle they
potentially exsist.
In 2016 AKTEA was founded, the Europe-
an network of womens organizations in
fisheries and agriculture, by female fish-
ing organizations from France, the Neth-
erlands, UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Ita-
ly, Greece and Scandinavia. Through this
network they are trying to implement the
following agenda:
A collective campaign, aiming to
make the role of women in fishing
visible and to consolidate it by giving
it a legal status. In particular, they
aim at the implementation of EU Di-
rective 86/613, which defines the le-
20

gal status of the supportive wife in And last but not least, womens or-
the national legislation of the Mem- ganizations are encouraged to mobi-
ber States and at providing women lize support by the government and
with equal access to social benefits. apply for funding from the special-
The achievements in some of the ized funds for common female pro-
countries in this respect are greater jects such as collective sale of fish
than in others (France, Spain, Portu- and education and training programs.
gal).
Access of women from the fishing
communities to decision-making on
management issues in the sector.
This is the main theme of AKTEA
for encouraging organizations in the
network to participate in the Re-
gional Advisory Council for Fisheries
of the EU. It also encourages them to
engage in consultations on important
policy issues in the field of fisheries
in the EU on Member State level,
such as the process of drafting the
Green Paper of reform in the Com-
mon Fisheries Policy and the Europe-
an Fisheries Fund.
AKTEA takes care that organizations
that are its members participate in
initiatives for promotion of the local
economy and the local community,
such as organizing local fish mar-
kets, activities to build a good im-
age of the fishers and promotion of
their traditional culture, campaigns
on safety at sea and better working
conditions for the crews.

In Bulgaria
According to FAOUN the number of small-
scale fisheries in Bulgaria is 2767, and in
Romania it is 673. In Bulgaria it represents
nearly 94% of the total number of regis-
tered active boats as of end 2015, and in
Romania 94.4%.
There is no data on the gender distribu-
tion of the workforce in fisheries in both
countries, since no such were submitted
to Eurostat. For the aquaculture, howev-
er, data are available, according to which
in Bulgaria (Scientific, Technical and Eco-
nomic Committee for Fisheries (STECF),
the number of enterprises is 336, and the
distribution of the workforce is 930 men
and 445 women, i.e. women are 32.4%;
in Romania, the number of enterprises is
315, and the distribution of the workforce
is 2135 men and 554 women, i.e. women
are 20.6%.
In the processing sector in Bulgaria (ac-
cording to the STECF data) the number of
enterprises is 45, and the distribution of
the workforce is 883 men and 1051 wom-
en, i.e. women are 54.3%; in Romania the
number of enterprises is 13, and the dis-
tribution of the workforce is 230 men and
342 women, i.e. women are 59.8%. Eu-
21
rostat and STECF data differ significantly
in absolute terms, but proportionately re-
flect the global trends of concentration of
women in processing, to a lesser degree
in aquaculture and their virtusl absence
from the fishing activities.
According to the Bulgarian public register
of the active fleet, the active vessels un-
der 12 meters were 1790 at the end of
2015. The large ships with length over 12
meters are around 100. Romania does not
support such a register.
Association has not become an effective
practice in the fisheries sector in Bulgaria
yet. According to publicly available data
the registered associations are currently
ten, but not all of them are active. Half
of them are in the Northern Black Sea
coast: three in Varna (Trakata, Quar-
antine, Ada Bahcha) and two in the
north of Varna (Kaliakra Kavarna and
Kariya - Shabla). Most of the small-scale
fishermen, however, prefer to work inde-
pendently because of the fees they have
to pay in organizations. In Romania there
are 5 active associations, 3 of them in the
Danube Delta area.
22
3. Development of fishing policy from the
perspective of participation of women in
the period 2014-2020
The fish in the sea is a public resource
and is not only an important source of
protein and nutrients for billions of peo-
ple around the world, but also the source
of 60 million jobs in the sector, 90% of
which are in small-scale fishing and 15%
of them for women. The European fishing
fleet has over 83,700 vessels that employ
more than 150 000 people and at least
three times more workplaces on shore.
Four out of five (80%) of the fishing ves-
sels in the European fisheries are defined
as small-scale (with lenght less than 12
meters).
Historicaly at the end of the last and at
the beginning of this century the waters
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea,
and from the Baltic sea to the Mediterra-
nean have been overfished, leading to a
dramatic reduction not only of fish stocks,
but also of fishermen relying on them.
This ecological disaster stirred public
condemnation and the fishermen who had
the aura of heroes in their communities
became pirates who do not think about
the future.
Virtually without exception, overfish-
ing is not due to those 80% of fleet,
represented by small-scale fishermen.
Since they cannot move to new loca-
tions, small-scale fishermen are forced
to keep what they have. Thus, regard-
less of the percentage of the total fleet
that they represent, they take care of
the sea using fishing gear that provides
high-quality fresh fish, but their voices
could not get to influence the policy - at the
national and the EU level. As a result, the
fisheries policy is dominated by the large,
better organized and resourced sector of
the fleet, often to the detriment of the
small-scale sector.
The commercial fishing in European wa-
ters is managed through the Common
Fisheries Policy. The regulation is re-
formed every ten years, and despite the
good intentions for decades it neglects
the described diminishing of fish and jobs
related to fishing.
As a result of the latest reform, which be-
gan in 2009 and was completed in early
2014 with the adoption of a new policy,
two basic changes occurred. First, the
Lisbon Treaty introduced the co-deci-
sion. This means that MEPs had the op-
portunity to influence the reform process
and second, small-scale fishermen and
their representatives, with the help of
a large number of environmental NGOs
participated in the process. The combi-
nation of these two elements undoubted-
ly had a serious and very positive effect
on the results.

The new CFP and its related regulation
concerns:
providing a fair standard of living in
the fishing sector, including small-
scale farms;
preferential access for small-scale,
artisanal and coastal fishing vessels,
an action plan for development,
competitiveness and sustainability of
coastal fishing;
incentives, including economic, to
encourage more selective fishing with
low impact on the marine ecosystem
and fishery resources. When Member
States define their fishing perime-
ters, they should use transparent and
objective criteria, including environ-
mental, social and economic.
Streight after the introduction of the new
CFP the question of the actual implemen-
tation of the measures emerged. To this
end, small-scale fishermen who united
and spoke in one voice during the reforms
formed the Basic Team that created the
LIFE platform (Low Impact Fisheries of
Europe).
The main objective of the LIFE Platform
is to provide the clear and coherent opin-
ion of the majority of European fishermen
on EU level, who are small-scale and use
fishing tackle and methods with low im-
23
pact, but so far they had no effective rep-
resentation in Brussels, or even at Member
State level. Established as an organization
in May 2014, LIFE is, in the words of its
President, organization of organizations
led by a fisherman for fishermen. It is
managed by a Management Board of an-
glers from all over Europe, all members
of the local small-scale fishery communi-
ties. The platform has an Executive Di-
rector, supported by a team in an office
in Brussels and regional coordinators who
currently cover the North Sea, the Baltic
Sea and the Mediterranean area.
The members of LIFE unite fishermen who
are small-scale and have a low environ-
mental impact, but at the same time high
social and economic value to the commu-
nities that they support and that support
them. Typical of them is that most often
they do daily sea fishing trips and have
low GHG emissions per kilogram of har-
vest, i.e. sustainable type of catch. Their
importance is not limited to the catch or
even to those men and women who work
routinely in one of the most dangerous
environments to provide fish for our ta-
ble (fishing is characterized by more inju-
ries and deaths than any other industrial
sector). It is much bigger, because these
people take care of the sea every day:
they are often at the core of envi-
ronmental programs and initiatives;
24
they keep 1,000 years-old cultures
and traditions alive;
they are the successor of countless
generations of knowledge and skills
and if lost, they could never
be restored;
they are often the mainstay of the
vulnerable communities inhabiting
the coasts, because they support
them, create jobs where sometimes
there is no other employment and
are a source of fresh fish.
Since its establishment in 2014, LIFE has
already more then 7000 members, work-
ing on more than 4,000 boats in all of the
14 maritime Member States of the Union.
Here is an example of the change that
can guarantee sustainable development
of the sector in Europe. Traditionally, ac-
cess to fish in the sea, or at least for most
European fishermen goes through the
allocation of fishing quotas, represent-
ing a share of those allocated to the re-
spective state based on historical harvest
data. The problem with this approach for
the small-scale fishermen is that they do
not have adequate systems of register-
ing their catch, while the operators of
the larger vessels have their log-books,
where they register in detail everything
they landed. In some cases they exagger-
ate the indications to secure access to
future opportunities. The method obvi-
ously rewards those who have the biggest
catch and leaves the small-scale fleet out
of the process. This in turn provides many
important resources and thus affects the
larger fishermen. The vicious circle of
lack of resources is closing, and as a re-
sult small-scale fishermen have no impact
on the fisheries policy and the quota is
consolidating in the hands of the larger
players.

In Britain, for example, although the small-
scale sector represents 77% of the fleet in
absolute number, it has an access to only
1.5% of the quota in tonnage. This situa-
tion is exacerbated because the quota is
becoming a commodity for sale. The cur-
rent trading, along with well-intentioned
but dangerous initiatives to further pri-
vatization of fish in our seas, means that
the small-scale sector is left standing on
the pier without being able to catch the
fish that goes by, while large and often
foreign fishing vessels utilize the national
quota, which they purchased or acquired
based on previous harvest.
Article 17 of the CFP requires from the
Member States to incorporate the crite-
ria of environmental, social and economic
considerations in the allocation of access
to fishing quotas. If governments take this
approach seriously and not just in words,
it could revolutionize the industry very
quickly. It would reward any vessel or
group of vessels that implement sustaina-
ble fishing and bring significant social and
economic benefits, but until then the sys-
tem will encourage those with the biggest
catch, not with the most useful one.
The potential of the small-scale fishing
sector to ensure sustainable jobs and the
livelihoods of the local communities in
the long term, and to reduce the impact
on the ecosystem is enormous. Small ves-
sels provide over 40% of the total employ-
ment in the sector and provide European
citizens with fresh, local seafood. Moreo-
25
ver, they generate workplaces elsewhere
in the community in local trade, in man-
ufacturing and in repair activities.
Naturally, such a large group cannot be
homogeneous, which is a challenge in it-
self. That is why the CFP embarked on re-
flecting the challenges. It introduced spe-
cial rules to minimize the administrative
burden on small-scale fishermen and their
SMEs for example they are not expected
to keep a log-book.
The EU is also striving to make the right
investments. Access to finance was fa-
cilitated in the new European Fund for
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. For small
boats a higher percentage of funding is
eligible - 75%. But things are not limited
to financing. A framework has been pro-
vided for conservation of the activities of
small-scale fisheries. This is not only done
at EU level. Since the measures for pres-
ervation and access are local in origin,
small-scale fishermen should have greater
participation.
The LIFE platform aims to influence the
development and implementation of the
policy and to ensure that fishing in Europe
is done in a sustainable way, and that the
destructive fishing practices are eradi-
cated by the new CFP and the concerns
of small-scale fishermen get heard. With
the help of changes in the overall policy,
financial support and the growing collec-
tive voice of the industry can become the
pulse of the future generations.
26

In 2010 the European Parliament organ-

ized a public hearing on Women and
the sustainable development of fisher-
ies areas. In 2013, on its own initiative,
the Parliament included specific actions
in the Common policy for developing
the role of women.

4. Strengthening the role of women in
the economy: unused resources
Women represent slightly over a half
of the worlds population, but their
contribution to the measured econom-
ic activity, growth and prosperity is far
below its potential and this has serious
macroeconomic consequences. Despite
the significant progress made in the re-
cent decades, labor markets around the
world remain gender-divided and pro-
gress towards equality seems to be at a
standstill. The participation of women
remains lower than that of men, women
perform the majority of the unpaid work,
and when they are engaged in paid em-
ployment, they are overrepresented in
the informal sector and among the work-
ing poors. Overall, remuneration of their
labor is lower than that of men. The pro-
portion of women among entrepreneurs
also remains low. Differences in produc-
tivity of businesses owned by men and
women according to research are mainly
due to the access to resources (Blackden
and Hallward-Driemeier 2013).
The Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sus-
tainable and inclusive growth reflects
the priorities of Europe and the way it
will approach the future economic chal-
lenges. One of the biggest among them
is unemployment. When innovative solu-
tions to economic challenges are sought,
27
ignoring half the population means wast-
ed potential of half the workforce.
It is a known fact that change does not
come easy and does not happen fast.
Habits die hard. We have all grown up in
a society, dominated by men. Conscious-
ly or not, we participate in maintaining
the power structures of society that dis-
criminate against women by inertia. The
presentations in the leading media also
influence the way boys and girls per-
ceive the world and their aspirations.
Securing visibility of strong women in
the media and highlighting their remark-
able success can inspire women to be
more ambitious.
Viewed through the issue of fundamental
rights, gender equality shows that wom-
ens rights are a matter of immediate
concerns. In the economic sphere the
link between equality, economic growth
and institutional mechanisms should be
recognized. According to the Index of
Gender Equality, which in employment
measures the difference in participa-
tion on the labor market, in the duration
of working life, in sectoral segregation
models and the labour quality (such as
flexible working hours, job training and
health and safety), women participate in
28

a lesser degree, work fewer hours and

generally their working life is shorter.
This situation is defined as problematic
because the economic independence en-
ables men and women to control their
lives and to plan their families.

5. Women in SSF:
traditional roles and opportunities
In most fisheries men are the main pro-
ducers. This is especially valid with re-
gard to fishing activities that occur off-
shore. These activities are reserved for
men who are physically fit to withstand
the difficulties of working at sea. There
are good reasons for that the work re-
quires physical strength and men are
generally larger and have more muscles
than women, which generally makes
them more productive; fishing boats
have very limited space and supplies of
food and water that should maintain the
maximum possible amount of productive
energy. Also, sea fishing is a potentially
dangerous activity and women are im-
portant to the community as guardians
of the family reproduction.
This does not mean that women are not
represent on the boats during the catch
or should not do that. There are nota-
ble exceptions to the rule, especially in
Asia, where whole families live and work
together on water.
However, there are many other ways in
which women participate in the fisheries
sector, but traditionally they are expect-
ed to perform a dual role: managing the
household and taking care of the chil-
dren, and being the engine of fish pro-
cessing and marketing. So women use
29
part of the their husbandss catch to sat-
isfy the needs of the family and the rest
to provide for other needs. In the fisher-
ies communities they are the ones that
obtain loans when needed, because they
are involved in more and more extensive
social networks than their husbands.
The gender analysis is still poorly in-
volved in fisheries and mostly limited to
the roles that men and women perform.
The belief that men fish and women par-
ticipate in post harvest activities and
sale remains the most prevalent among
cultural, social, political and economic
environments. Averages of global statis-
tics that support this perception mask
the real importance of women national-
ly.
Changes in the traditional roles of wom-
en in modern societies are both naturally
occurring and deliberately caused. The
natural evolution is the result of global
economic and social trends, changes in
lifestyle and the influence that women
managed to achieve thanks to their unit-
ing for a common cause. Purposefully
caused changes are the result of the fish-
eries policy, which increasingly recogniz-
es their key role and is looking to expand
their capabilities, including by means of
Blue growth.
30

6. Promoting the role of women
in fishing communities
The activities that will contribute to
ensuring the remuneration of wives /
daughters of fishermen within in the fish-
eries considered as promising and having
opportunities for development are:
Accounting
The effective management of the fish-
ing enterprise requires accounting that
helps them fulfill their obligations to the
tax authorities and make informed deci-
sions about their financial situation. De-
cisions that are not based on accurate
accounting information can lead to re-
duced profits or losses. This is an impor-
tant intrinsic function that women could
perform.
The National Revenue Agency requires
reporting of sales, expenses, deprecia-
tion and information about participation
in programs, financed by national or EU
funds. Furthermore, the funding insti-
tutions demand detailed business and
personal information about the fisher-
mens property and the status of their
outstanding loans.
Accounts-keeping includes the collec-
tion, organization, categorization and
maintaining of financial information re-
lated to the catch and its marketing.
Different methods could be used - from
31
basic hand accounting to modern com-
puterized systems. The management
function also involves assessment and
analysis of accounting information. With
their help informed decisions can be tak-
en based on the actual situation or on
forecasts.
The financial part is related to the mon-
ey and financial operations of the fishing
enterprise. It includes sales of the har-
vest, operational costs, liabilities and
receivables, assets, depreciation, loans
and price information. The part concern-
ing the harvest refers to the quantity of
caught fish by species. When this infor-
mation is maintained and categorized
accurately, it is a useful source of busi-
ness decision-making.
The choice of a system should be deter-
mined by the expected use of the ac-
counting information. There is no best
system for all situations, but as a mini-
mum an accounting system should:
provide accurate and relevant in-
formation;
fit in the organization of the fishing
enterprise;
be in a form that helps
decision-making.
32
If a woman takes over the accounting
function, she must build the habit of
regularly and accurately describing the
transactions. Using banking transactions
is convenient because it facilitates the
tracking.
Double entry accounting provides the
most detailed accounting of business
transactions in the fishing enterprise.
It usually takes a long time to master
and implement the system. The simpler
manual accounting system with assets
adaptation would be sufficient for most
fishing enterprises and is an accepted
method of accounting the income and
expenses for tax purposes.
Although the manual accounting system
is suitable for many fisheries, the choice
should not dismiss the computerized op-
tion. The comparison between the two
shows the following:
manual accounting does not re-
quire a large initial investment and
is easy to implement;
the computerised system is more
expensive to install and requires
more training;
manual accounting takes longer
and creates greater possibility for
errors;
the computerised system is fast
and accurate;
manual accounting provides limited
level of analysis without investing
extraordinary time and effort;
the computerised system can be a
powerful analytical tool.
Historically, the keeping of accounts and
analysis of financial information has al-
ways been a challenge for small fisher-
men. Computerized systems, however,
have the main purpose of solving chal-
lenges. Their introduction depends on
the expectations to the accounting, the
time allocated to the purpose and the
attitude to the initial investment.
In practice, computerised accounting
systems may not save much time. Their
real advantage is the opportunities for
analysis. After the information is en-
tered into the software, reports and
analyzes can be created, modified and
printed. Monthly and annual summaries
can be made to identify the strengths
and weaknesses of an operation. When
accurate and complete accounting re-
cords are available, different tools can
be used for financial analysis.
Well done book-keeping and analysis of
the accounting information has the po-
tential to provide a significant role to
women in the fishing enterprise, a good
status and good income opportunities.
This function secures the financial and
operational decisions in the fishing busi-
ness, the compliance with the tax laws
and other government regulations, and
obtaining of bank loans.

Administrative activities related to the
harvest
The integrated process of information
gathering, analysis, planning, consulta-
tion, decision-making, resource alloca-
tion and implementation of regulations
and rules that govern fishing activities
to ensure constant resource productivity
and achieving of the business objectives
is the management function of a small-
scale fishing enterprise, part of which is
the administration. The ultimate goal,
to which this process is subject, is the
sustainable optimization of benefits.
At the same time however, the process
relates to a series of activities repre-
senting an administrative burden on
enterpriceses and requiring investment
of time and effort. This is an important
function that women could perform. The
EU regulation in this field is harmonized,
but since administrative obligations are
arising from the national legislation, we
will use the Bulgarian law as an example.
According to the regulations, commer-
cial fishing in the waters of the Black Sea
and the Danube River is carried out by
legal entities and sole traders after the
issuing of a permit for commercial fishing
and entitlement to fish stocks and other
aquatic organisms1. The right is granted,
but should be certified for the respec-
tive calendar year through a certificate
issued by EAFA. Commercial fishing per-
mits for the waters of the Black Sea, the
Danube River and the EU Water are is-
sued to ships, registered in the register
of fishing vessels.
33
Entry in the register of fishing vessels,
authorization of commercial fishing, spe-
cial permits and rights certificates for
utilization of the fish resource and other
aquatic organisms are made in compli-
ance with European Union law.
The types of fish that are subject to quo-
tas and to the issuing of a special fish-
ing permit are determined by the Minis-
ter of Agriculture and Food. The special
permits for fishing in the waters of the
Black Sea are issued for a calendar year
to ships, included in the list of approved
fishing boats for fishing of quota species,
adopted with an order of the Executive
Director of EAFA and holding a valid per-
mit for commercial fishing.
The described administrative services
necessitate the payment of fees accord-
ing to a Council of Ministerss tarrif, ex-
cept for fishing with specialized equip-
ment for commercial fishing.
The issuing of a commercial fishing per-
mit for the Black Sea and the Danube
River requires the submitting of an ap-
plication form to the respective terri-
torial unit of EAFA, with attached copy
of the sailing permit/temporary sailing
permit issued by the Executive Agency
Maritime Administration or a copy of
the nationality act; proof of ownership
of the vessel or document proving the
justification of its use; a document of
paid commercial fishing permit fee and
a declaration that the fishing vessel, for
which a permit is requsted, is registered
under the Food Law.
34

The permit holder for commercial fishing the vessels length is over 10 meters, the
must inform the authority which grant- captain is obliged to reflect in the log-
ed the authorization of any changes in book the time, coordinates of the areas
the circumstances, related to the boat and places of fishing.
characteristics within seven days of their
occurrence. Failure to comply with the statutory re-
quirements and rules lead to sanctions,
The validity of the permit may be termi- most of which are financial or related
nated with an order, when for two con- to withdrawal of rights. Therefore, the
secutive years the holder has not been implementation of administrative activ-
issued a permit, the permit holder does ities is an important task that requires
not comply with the law or has declared investment of considerable time, includ-
zero catch. The fishing boats are subject ing familiarization with the provisions
to official deletion from the register and and monitoring of the changes in them,
the released capacity remains in favor and respecting the deadlines. This activ-
of the state. Commercial fishing is done ity also has the potential to give women
only with gear and vehicles that are a significant role in the fishing enterpris-
marked and entered in the certificate, es with a good status and good income
subject to marking within a specified pe- opportunity.
riod.
Moreover, according to studies it is pre-
Any person holding a premit for com- ferred by women and perceived much
mercial fishing in the waters of the Black better psychologically than participation
Sea is obliged to provide EAFA with gen- in activities, related directly, preceding
eral information and economic statistics or following the harvest.
about the fishing vessel, data on the
number of employees and the fishing ac-
tivities by the end of March.
When fishermen are engaged in commer-
cial fishing, they should keep a log-book
after the model issued by EAFA, which
consists of data on the harvest by spe-
cies and quantitative composition: for
turbot it is reported in units and by size
groups in kilograms, for sturgeon by spe-
cies, gender, weight and size of each
individual and for the rest fish and oth-
er aquatic species in quantities in kilo-
grams, including the allowable catch. If

Activities related to participation in as-
sociations, councils and Internet plat-
forms;
There are three principal types of organ-
izations involving employees in the fish-
eries sector:
Trade Unions - formed where there
are larger groups working in an
enterprise, for example in the pro-
cessing factories;
Producer/trade associations - or-
ganizations of associations of fish-
ing farms, associations of fish trad-
ers and so on.
Specialized womens organizations
associations, formed by women
employed in the fisheries sector in
some form.
Specialized womens organizations in
the fisheries sector have been formed
in many EU countries, including France,
Spain, Greece, Ireland, Sweden, UK,
Finland. In some cases, associations are
specifically created to protect the in-
terests of women in the fisheries sector,
others are sectoral version of the nation-
al networks of women (such as the Greek
womens cooperatives, some of which
are part of the fishing communities). In
the first instance, the Norwegian expe-
rience shows evolution from a focus on
health and safety to active lobbying, first
for the interests of their spouses, then of
the women themselves. Initiatives in this
area have not achieved equal success:
in France, the development of associa-
tions has been very successful, while in
Belgium they are not very effective. In
35
both cases, national/ European funding
has been provided, but while the French
organization is based on official recogni-
tion of the role of women and homoge-
neity in the organizations composition,
the Belgian unites women with different
interests and is hampered by conflicts.
In the last decade of the last and the
first decade of this century, a number of
new womens organizations in the fish-
eries sector emerged in Europe due to
the crisis that it undergoes and the wom-
ens concerns about its survival and the
survival of the communities where they
live. Campaigns for the rights and legal
status have been organized that recog-
nize their role in fisheries. France is the
leading example in the fight for rights,
followed by Italy, the Netherlands, Ire-
land and Greece. Subsequently, wom-
ens organizations with various purposes
were established, primarily focused on
providing training courses for women
(in Finland, Italy, Portugal, UK), so they
could better perform their activities in
the fisheries and find jobs in other eco-
nomic sectors.
The initiatives undertaken by these asso-
ciations differ in the different countries
according to the specific existing prob-
lems. For some of them the safety at sea
is important, the psychological support
of fishermen and their families in case of
accident at sea, improving working con-
ditions.
The role that womens associations play
in the Regional Advisory Council for Fish-
eries (RACF) is also in the centre of the
interest of many organizations (in Por-
36

tugal, Ireland, Sweden, UK and Italy). rederas, although they are members of
A transnational network was created to the cofradias-professional organizations
make room for participation in the RACF representing the small-scale fishermen.
for the North Sea. Thus, womens or- Studies have shown that local organi-
ganizations began playing a role in the zations do better thanks to the small
fisheries management politics. Some of amounts they receive from the local au-
them have earned their participation in thorities, while regional, national and
the executive committees (Portugal, Ita- European fight for their survival. The
ly and the UK), others in working groups. membership fee can hardly provide for
This participation has proved somewhat their activities.
problematic, mostly for financial rea-
sons, since membership in RACF is rel- Experience shows that organizations pro-
atively expensive and womens organ- tecting the interests and rights of pro-
izations generally depend on voluntary fessional women and managing resourc-
contributions. es succeed in maintaining their level of
activity. They also face problems, albeit
Among the truly active are the organi- of a different character; the most com-
zations from Galicia, Spain, balers for mon are the environmental problems
various types of shellfish (mariscadoras) and illegal practices.
and masters of nets (rederas), who strive
to convert their unregulated activities Nevertheless, Europe considers womens
into profession and have managed to organizations in the fisheries sector as a
convince regional authorities to provide valuable partner, which is a new voice in
them support. The professionalization of the policy process and which boosts their
collecting mussels will give them a sta- confidence in their own strengths.
tus first, and second it will provide them
with the opportunity to better manage
the supply of their products.
Organizations representing wives in the
fisheries sector act independently of
mens organizations on a voluntary ba-
sis. Independent organizations exist at
all levels - from local to European and
the network AKTEA functions as a union,
which represents all womens organiza-
tions in the sector at European Union
level. For all these associations a ma-
jor problem is the lack of funding. This
applies even to the mariscadoras and

Tips for policy making;
The main European texts that address
the role of women in the fisheries sec-
tor are the provisions of the European
Fisheries Fund (2007-2013) and the Euro-
pean Maritime and Fisheries Fund (2014-
2020).
Based on the Regulation, the Member
States have developed strategic plans
and operational programs for the im-
plementation of EFF. In line with the
guidelines for the operational programs
the goal was promoting gender balance
in various stages of the implementation
of the operational program through op-
erations, specifically aimed at reducing
gender-based segregation on the labor
market (Article 19 (i).
According to the interim evaluation of
EFF, it made neutral or marginally pos-
itive contribution to the promotion of
equal opportunities between men and
women. This is probably due to the fact
that women did not play an active role
in the consultations and the process of
decision-making, which means that their
interests were not taken into account.
Even in Member States where womens
organizations (generally dealing with
gender equality issues) are involved in
the development of strategic plans and
operational programs, they have not ex-
ercised real influence because of igno-
rance of the real situation of women in
the fisheries sector.
It is an important fact that organizations
protecting the rights of women have
seats on the monitoring committees in
37
only 11 Member States. According to the
assessment, the actual inclusion of the
equality issue was not successful be-
cause it was not an objective of any of
the axes (Ernst and Young, 2011, p. 11),
nor was it used as a criterion in the se-
lection of projects for funding.
Nevetheless, some progress has been
made. In Portugal and Sweden for exam-
ple many Fisheries Local Action Groups
(FLAGs) have announced their work plans
in the direction of equality between
women and men. This is one of the ob-
jectives of the Spanish FLAGs and they
hope to achieve their goal through the
development of women entrepreneur-
ship and providing support to womens
organizations.
Special attention should be given to the
key role played by the European Fish-
eries Areas Network (FARNET) for com-
munity-led local development, which
combines proactive fisheries groups,
managing authorities and experts from
across the European Union. It put the
inclusion of the issue of equality on the
agenda of several transnational organi-
zations by organizing workgroups on the
role of women and through presenta-
tions of projects, implemented by wom-
en during its conferences. It also created
a discussion forum for women in the sec-
tor on its Internet site.
38
Providing capital to start own business,
using catch as a raw material.
Provision of capital to start own busi-
ness using catch as raw material can be
secured in two main ways - through the
loans of financial institution and with the
help of funds targeting the sector.
The Program for Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries (PMAF) aims to achieve a dy-
namic, sustainable and competitive
fisheries and aquaculture in the period
2014-2020 and provides grants of 50% to
100% of the business initiatives depend-
ing on the chosen procedure.
Funds can be recieved through the fol-
lowing measures:
Measure 1.1: suitable for investments
on board of the vessels, fishing tourism,
restaurants, environmental services re-
lated to fisheries, etc.
Applicants under this measure could be:
Persons registered under the Com-
mercial Law operating in the fisher-
ies sector.
Persons registered under the Law on
Cooperatives operating in the fish-
eries sector.
Under this measure you can receive fi-
nancing for investments, leading to im-
proved competitiveness and viability of
the enterprises in the fisheries sector, in-
cluding small-scale coastal fleet and im-
proving safety and working conditions.
Expenses for investment on board of the
vessels, fishing tourism, restaurants; en-
vironmental services, fishing and educa-
tional activities in the field of fisheries
are recognized according the program.
The total budget of the grant according
to the procedure is 1.5 million levs. The
maximum co-financing rate is 50% -80%.
Measure 2.1 appropriate for technical
innovations in aquaculture, innovation
promoting sustainable use of resources,
introduction of new, sustainable produc-
tion methods, etc.
Applicants under this measure could be:
Persons registered under the Com-
mercial Law or the Law on Coopera-
tives operating in Aquaculture
Scientific and technical organiza-
tions.
This measure aims at introducing pro-
cess innovation and will support the
acquisition of scientific and technical
knowledge, striving to develop and in-
troduce new and significantly improved
products, new aquaculture species with
good market potential, new or improved
processes, new or improved manage-
ment systems and organization.
Financial assistance under this meas-
ure should contribute to strengthening
of the technological development and
knowledge transfer. It will enable scien-
tific research authorities / institutes to
develop their knowledge in the field of
aquaculture in practice; will accelerate
the track of their results to the business-
es, and they will be able to benefit more
easily from the achievements of science
and directly apply them in practice. Im-
plementation of innovative approach-

es, processes, products will diversify
production, it will increase revenues/
reduce costs and fully optimize the pro-
duction processes, management and sale
of production.
To reduce the risk of failure of an inno-
vative idea, it will finance the study of
the technical and economic feasibility of
innovative products and processes.
Under this measure expenses for tech-
nical innovation in aquaculture aimed
at reducing environmental impact; in-
novation to promote sustainable use of
resources, to facilitate the introduction
of new, sustainable production meth-
ods, including of locally adapted tech-
nologies for breeding of new promising
species and developing technologies to
produce products with high biological
value; studies of the technical and eco-
nomic feasibility of innovative products
and processes will be recognized.
The total amount of the grant is 1 mil-
lion lev. The maximum co-financing rate
is 100%
Measure 2.2: a suitable investment
for diversification of activities and the
reared species, modernization of farms,
including the purchase of equipment for
protection of the property, etc.
Applicants under this measure could be:
Legal entities registered under the
Commercial Law or the Law on Co-
operatives, as candidates must suit
the following requirements:
to be registered as producers of
fish and other aquatic organisms
39
under Art. 25 LFA, in cases when
the supported entities are exist-
ing operating farms;
to be registered under Art. 137
of the Animal Health Law (AHL) -
where the subject of support are
existing farms;
To qualify for micro, small or me-
dium enterprise according SMEA
and Annex I of Regulation (EU)
651/2014 or to have a staff
of less than 750 employees or
with turnover below 200 million.
Euros, if they are enterpriceses
that do not fall within the defi-
nitions of the above-mentioned
laws and regulations.
Part of the activities provided for in the
measure Productive investments in aq-
uaculture, aimed at modernization of
the facilities and diversification of the
income of aquaculture enterprises, in-
cluding improving safety working condi-
tions, in particularly small and medium
enterprises.
Eligible activities will include:
1. Productive investments in aquacul-
ture, including production of fry
2. Diversification of production of aq-
uaculture and farmed species;
3. Modernization of aquaculture
farms, including the improvement
of working conditions and safety for
workers in the sector;
40
4. Improving and modernization, re-
lated to animal health and welfare,
including the purchase of equip-
ment to protect the farms from wild
predators;
5. Investments, reducing negative im-
pact or enhancing positive impact
on the environment and the im-
provement of resource efficiency;
6. Investments in improving the qual-
ity and value added products from
aquaculture;
7. Investments, leading to significant
reduction of the impact of aqua-
culture enterprises on consumption
and water quality, in particular by
reducing the use of water or chem-
icals, antibiotics and other medic-
inal products or by improving the
quality of wastewater, including by
developing of multi-trophic aqua-
culture systems; (Polyculture of aq-
uaculture);
8. Promoting closed aquaculture sys-
tems where aquaculture products
grown in closed recirculating sys-
tems, thereby minimizing water
consumption;
9. Investments in improving energy
efficiency and promoting the pas-
sage of aquaculture enterprises to
renewable sources of energy (the
permitted level of the installation
capacity should not be greater than
consumption, which is necessary for
the project);
10. The income diversification of the
aquaculture enterprises through the
development of additional activities
related to the main activity of the
enterprise in aquaculture, including
fishing tourism, aquaculture envi-
ronmental services or educational
activities on aquaculture.
Eligible costs are:
Construction works;
Purchasing new machinery and
equipment (including computer
equipment), equipment and other,
directly associated with the pro-
posed investment, including the
costs of implementing the supply,
installation, testing and commis-
sioning of the equipment,machines,
plant;
Specialized warehouse equipment
and warehouse vehicles servicing
farm (electric trucks and forklifts,
towing equipment, pallet trucks
and refrigerated containers);
Purchasing know-how, patent rights
and licenses necessary for the
preparation and / or execution of
the project proposal;
Purchasing software, including the
cost of delivery, installation, testing
and commissioning;
Preparation of the project, engi-
neering researches, evaluations,
analysis and preparation of techni-
cal and / or technological project;

technological project should be
written by a specialist with educa-
tion corresponding to the specifics
of the technology;
Purchasing land that is directly re-
lated to the project, in amount of
10% of total eligible project costs;
Investments in renewable energy
sources (RES) to produce heat and /
or electricity, necessary and direct-
ly related to the project;
Service vessels that serve and are
directly related to the implementa-
tion of the project;
Introducing systems for quality con-
trol, safe working conditions and
environmental protection and wa-
ter and achieving compliance with
internationally recognized stand-
ards;
Businesses retail sales of own pro-
duced aquaculture production in
the aquaculture farms;
Training of the staff engaged in pro-
duction activities directly linked to
the investment;
Facilities and / or equipment to
improve safety and working condi-
tions;
Cost of independent construction
and author supervision and invest-
ment control;
Vehicles meeting the capacity and
the needs of the economy related
to the improvement of production;
41
The total amount of the grant procedure
is 18.872 million levs, including:
sector Small Projects - 2 million
levs;
sector Recirculating Systems and
Development of new and expan-
sion and modernization of existing
aquaculture farms - 16.872 million
levs.
The financial assistance under this meas-
ure amounts to 50% of total eligible costs
for activities.
The maximum allowable grant to a
beneficiary under measure 2.2 Pro-
ductive investments in aquaculture
for the whole programming period
is 1.4 million levs.
Sector Small Projects
The minimum allowable grant is
3,000 levs.
The maximum allowable grant is 48
895 levs.
The maximum allowable grant for
the whole programming period for a
beneficiary is 97,790 levs.
Sector Recirculating Systems
The minimum allowable grant is 48
895 levs.
The maximum allowable grant is
850 000 levs.
42
Sector Construction of new and expan-
sion and modernization of existing aqua-
culture farms
The minimum allowable grant is 30
000 levs.
The maximum allowable grant is
550 000 levs.
Measure 5.4: suitable for farm modern-
ization including the purchase of equip-
ment to protect farm, investments to
improve the quality or value added, re-
storing ponds used for aquaculture, etc.
Applicants under this measure could be::
Legal entities registered under the
Commercial Law or the Law on Co-
operatives, as candidates must suit
the following requirements:
to be registered under Art. 12 of
the Food Law and to be entered
in the register of BAFS in sector
Fish products - only for exist-
ing enterpriceses;
to be entered in the Commercial
Register to the Registry Agency;
to qualify for micro, small or me-
dium enterprise according SMEA
and Annex I of Regulation (EU)
651/2014;
to be registered as producers of
fish and other aquatic organisms
under Art. 25 LFA - in cases when
supported objects are existing
or new companies that process
their own aquaculture;
to have issued permit commer-
cial fishing and Certificate of
eligibility for utilization of fish-
eries resources and other aquat-
ic organisms when supported
objects are existing or new com-
panies that process their own
catch;
to be registered under Art. 137
AHL - when supported objects
are existing or new created com-
panies that process their own
aquaculture.
The implementation of measure Pro-
cessing of fisheries and aquaculture prod-
ucts should contribute to promoting
investments, adding value to the prod-
ucts through subsequent treatment/pro-
cessing. EMFF (European Maritime and
Fisheries Fund) can support investments
in the processing of fishery and aquacul-
ture products, when these investments:
Contribute to the realization of
energy savings or reduce the im-
pact on the environment, including
waste treatment;
Improve safety, hygiene, health and
working conditions;
Are associated with the processing
of by-products that result from the
main activities of processing;
Are associated with the processing
of products of organic aquaculture
under Articles 6 and 7 of Regulation
(EC) 834/2007;

lead to new or improved products,
new or improved processes, or new
or improved management and or-
ganizational systems.
Eligible costs are:
Construction works;
Purchasing new machinery and
equipment (including computer
equipment), equipment and other,
directly associated with the pro-
posed investment, including the
costs of implementing the supply, in-
stallation, testing and commission-
ing of the equipment (machines),
plant, including the acquired under
finance leases
Specialized warehouse equipment
and specialized vehicles meeting
the capacity and needs of the en-
terprise to improve the production,
including acquired under finance
leases;
Purchasing know-how, patent rights
and licenses necessary for the
preparation and / or execution of
the project proposal;
Purchasing software, including the
cost of delivery, installation, test-
ing and commissioning (including
acquired under finance leases);
43
Preparation of project, engineering
researches, evaluations, analysis
and preparation of technical and
/ or technological project; tech-
nological project should be writ-
ten by a specialist with education
corresponding to the specifics of
the technology, if the applicant has
conducted the relevant procedure
under the terms and conditions of
the normative act under Art. 54 of
ZUSESIF;
Purchase of land that is directly re-
lated to the foreseen investment
and amounted to 10 percent of to-
tal eligible project costs under the
conditions in art. 20 of CMD 119;
Investments in RES to produce heat
and / or electricity, necessary and
directly related to the production
activities of the applicant, includ-
ing acquired under finance leases;
Implementation of quality control
systems, safe working conditions
and environmental and waters pro-
tection and achieving compliance
with internationally recognized
standards - up to 1 percent of the
investment value;
Training of the staff engaged in pro-
duction activities directly linked to
the investment - up to 1 percent of
the value of the investment;
44
Investments in treatment facilities
for wastewater and equipment re-
lated to environmental protection,
including acquired under finance
leases;
Supply, installation, testing and
commissioning of:
facilities and / or waste process-
ing equipment - use of waste
from the processing for the pro-
duction of animal by-product;
equipment to improve quali-
ty, safety, storage capacity and
traceability of products;
facilities and / or equipment to
improve safety and working con-
ditions;
The total grant amount of the procedure
is 10 million lev. The minimum amount of
grant per project is 20 000 levs.
The maximum grant per project is
one million levs;
The maximum allowable grant per
beneficiary under the measure 5.4
Processing of fisheries and aqua-
culture products for the whole
programming period is 1.4 million
levs.
Banks have also started lending under
the Operational Programme Fisheries
2007-2013 at attractive conditions. The
initiative is entirely geared towards the
financing of projects for small and medi-
um enterprises in the Fisheries sector
and seeks to enable businesses launch
new productions and modernize. The
supply of bank loans to small businesses
in the sector has expanded in the cur-
rent programming period 2014-2020.

7. Encouraging activity in the work
of associations and CS and
the LIFE platform
The objective of the LIFE platform is
to announce a clear and strong opinion
of the majority of the European small-
scale fishermen at EU level. It has al-
ready achieved the recognition that it
is of crucial significance that small-scale
fishermen have specific and focused rep-
resentation to affirm their cause, ensure
long-term sustainability and the survival
of their activities. The efficient and fo-
cused presence at EU level is an impor-
tant part of this approach.
The LIFE platform not only speaks on
behalf of its members in Brussels, but
it also helps them in their direct com-
munication at all levels. With its estab-
lishment, they send a petition to the EU
decision-makers to preserve their com-
munities, their heritage and lifestyle.
The main message is that the Common
Fisheries Policy must cease fishing, which
is not sustainable and place in the center
of Europes future the small-scale fisher-
men with low environmental impact.
The small-scale fisheries platform wants
to overcome an injustice. Since the
adoption of the Common Fisheries Poli-
cy its framework is unbalanced and un-
fair in its essence: a huge share of the
fishing quotas and the EU subsidies go to
large-scale fishing operators throughout
Europe and increase the fishing capac-
45
ity of the deep-sea fishing fleet. Thus,
small-scale fishermen are marginalized
and lose their business. At the same time
large vessels use short-term contracts
and unskilled labor and provide benefits
to local communities, while small-scale
fishermen lose their jobs or are forced to
seek additional sources of income.
The LIFE platform stands for:
Fishing rights should be given to
those who use sustainable practic-
es. They are convinced that access
to fish must be linked to the per-
formance of individual fishermen
based on environmental, social and
economic criteria. They struggle for
the rewarding of fishermen whose
work has a sustainable effect with
minimal by-catch, high level of em-
ployment versus the volume of the
harvest and weak dependance on
subsidies and fuel. Small-scale fish-
ermen expect the policy to recog-
nize that the quota (fishing rights)
is a public good, not private prop-
erty and to provide opportunities
in a way that promotes sustaina-
ble fishing methods. They object to
the transferable fishing methods - a
system they believe effectively pri-
vatizes access and can consolidate
marine resources in the hands of a
small number of powerful players.
46
Reduction of over-capacity where
it was formed and preservation of
jobs in small-scale fisheries. It is
estimated that the fleet of Europe
puts pressure on the fish stocks,
exceeding two or three times the
level of sustainability. Small-scale
fishermen believe that over-capac-
ity must be detailed and assessed
against the state of fish stocks.
They call on the Member States to
urgently take action to reduce the
fishing capacity in the presence of
excessive over-capacity and not to
exceed the sustainable levels of
pressure. Furthermore, they de-
mand regional plans for fisheries
management. Most of all, they em-
phasize the need to catch less fish
at European level, but not to the
detriment of those fishermen who
use sustainable practices. The mes-
sage is quality at the expense of the
quantity: to fish less, but smarter.
Ending the harmful subsidies and
destructive practices. The Europe-
an fishing fleet receives millions of
euro in the form of subsidies each
year. The members of the platform
believe that much of this money is
spent on destructive and sometimes
even illegal fishing operations. In
their opinion all European fisher-
men must strictly follow the regu-
lations. Fishing vessels or operators
caught in illegal fishing should not
receive future subsidies. Each year
in the Northeast Atlantic 1.3 million
tons of fish is discarded from Eu-
ropean fishing vessels. Small-scale
fishermen demand a zero target
discharge, backed by strict rules of
selectivity, size and weight of the
trawl, net for oysters and other mo-
bile gear. In this way they believe
the unwanted hearvest will be re-
duced, along with the need for con-
stantly increasing engine power.
Restoring the vitality of the Europe-
an seas. The fisheries management,
according to the LIFE members,
must take account of the various
local and regional realities and put
small-scale fishing in its core. The
practical and traditional knowledge
of the fishermen should be valued
and their cooperation with state
regulators, research institutes and
advisory committees strengthened.
They expect a significant strength-
ening of the research activity on the
state of fish stocks and measures for
their recovery, including through
larger funds from the EMFF.
 47

Small-scale fishermen want a small-

er, but better catch. They want to
leave waters populated by quality fish
to their children.

Participation in the LIFE platform means becoming a part of a community

that shares common values, goals and challenges of collaboration, leading
the sector to a better future.
As a member of LIFE your organization becomes part of a European network
of small-scale fishermen and will be supported by a professional team that
is able to identify new opportunities.
The benefits for the members are active involvement in the process of Eu-
ropean decision-making and obtaining topical information on the latest de-
velopments at the institutional level, including policies and funds.
Membership is free in the year of your accession. After that the contribution
is symbolic.
To become member, you have to accept the mission statement of the plat-
form and to go through the application process.
If you do not withdraw explicitly, your membership will be renewed auto-
matically.
48

8. Conclusion

A global consensus has been reached This guide is the first attempt to fill the
on the gender issues in the exercise of gaps and focus on the problems and op-
fundamental and labor rights. However, portunities of women in the fishing busi-
they have not been fully realized in the ness. It is primarily aimed at practicians,
fisheries sector yet. but it would also be useful for decision
makers because it draws on lessons
Fishing communities are gender divided learned from real situations and analyz-
and it is often up to the women to solve es elsewhere in Europe and worldwide,
the problem of changing access to fish and refers them to the specifics of the
resources. However, public recognition situation in Bulgaria and Romania. he
of the role of women in fisheries is at information that is placed in it is guid-
an early stage both in the world and in ed by the logic of the value chain in the
the EU. These policies do not sufficiently sector and by understanding of the chal-
take into account the non-economic and lenges and opportunities, arising from a
economic contribution of women to the more integrated approach.
welfare of fishing communities and fam-
ilies. As the sector is still dominated by
men, attention to the various roles that
women perform in it is not sufficient for
a real change to occur.
It is clear that there is no single or best
way of empowering women and achiev-
ing gender equality in fisheries. The re-
search literature on the subject is scarce
internationally and non-existent nation-
wide. This hampers the design of meas-
ures and management decisions based
on evidence, especially in terms of the
lack of statistical information and data
on women in the sector.
 49

References

Katia Frangoudes. 2013. Women in fisheries: a European perspective. DG for internal

policies. Fisheries.
Facts and figures on the Common Fishery Policy. Basic statistical data, 2016 edition.
Key Factors Supporting Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Management. September 2013.
Rockfeller Foundation.
Gender and Fisheries and Aquaculture. 2013. BMZ, Future-Makers, giz.
From Women in Fisheries to Gender in Fisheries. M.J. Williams, S.B. Williams, P.S.
Choo
FAO, Fisheries and Aqualculture Circular. A Review of Womens Access to fish in Small-
Scale Fisheries. Angela Lentisco, Robert Ulric Lee. 2015, Rome
Mainstreaming gender into project cycle management in the fisheries sector. Field
manual. 2011. M.C.Arenas and A. Lentesco. FAO, UN
50

Application

Research at EU level
Counting Womens Participation in EU Aquaculture
Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries post, May 2013. A new EU report on the Euro-
pean Union member countries aquaculture sector contains some basic gender-dis-
aggregated data on employment in the production segment of aquaculture.
Women in the EU Fish Processing Economy
Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries post, May 2013
EU 2011 employment statistics show that women and men are almost evenly bal-
anced, in terms of numbers of fish processing 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 employs about 150,000 people.
France, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom supported the largest workforces,
with more than 10,000 each.
ICSF-AKTEA WIF 2010:Strengthening the voice of women of fishing communities in
Europe
Cornelie Quist, Katia Frangoudes, Brian ORiordan, Mai 2010, 55 p.
This report contains a summary of the workshop of 13/02/2010 about Recasting
the net: defining a gender agenda for sustaining life and livelihoods in fisheries and
aquaculture and the synthesis reports by countries: Azores (Portugal), France,
Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Northern Ireland (UK), Portugal, Spain. French version
of the workshops summary.
Women in fisheries: a European perspective
Katia Frangoudes, Policy Department B: Strucutral and Cohesion Policies, Fisheries,
Note, 2013, 44 p.
This note gives an overview of the current situation faced by women in the fisheries
and aquaculture sector in Europe and the prerequisites for improved gender main-
streaming. It presents and discusses the available data on female employment in
the sector, the problems faced by womens fisheries organisations and their future
prospects. The note also proposes that the impact of the EFF on the promotion of
gender equality should be evaluated, and outlines the expectations vested in the
EMFF.
 51

Women and fisheries: Contribution to food security and local economies

Sarah Harper, Dirk Zeller, Melissa Hauzer, Daniel Pauly, Ussif Rashid Sumaila, Marine
Policy vol. 39, May 2013, p. 56-63.
The substantial role of women in fisheries is overlooked in management and policy.
Fortunately, it is gaining recognition despite a lack of quantitative data describing
the scale of participation and contribution. This work summarizes existing knowl-
edge on womens participation in marine fisheries globally, and estimates their
contribution in the Pacific. While womens role varies between geographic regions,
in the Pacific, women account for 56% of annual small-scale catches, and resulting
in an economic impact of 363 million USD (total revenue: 110 million USD). Recog-
nizing and quantifying the role of women in fisheries has profound implications for
management, poverty alleviation and development policy.
Womens contribution in small-scale fisheries in the European Union
Katia Frangoudes, in World Small-scale fisheries contemporary visions, Ratana
Chuenpagdee, 2011, chapter 6, p. 106-115.
In this chapter, the author presents the prominent role of women in income and
livelihood diversification, and how legislation can facilitate or inhibit their contri-
bution in European small-scale fisheries.
The role of the women in the sustainable development of european fisheries areas
Katia Frangoudes et al., Policy Department B, Structural and Cohesion Policies,
Study, May 2008, 82 p.
Women play an important role in fisheries, including fishing, aquaculture and pro-
cessing of aquatic products. They have been very active in self-organizing and net-
working to promote gender equality in many different areas across Europe. They
are also a major actor in the diversification of fisheries enterprises income, result-
ing in the creation of new opportunities in fisheries areas affected by the decline
of fishing. The report reviews best practices observed in the fishing areas of 14 EU
countries. It also recommends actions for use of the European Fisheries Fund as
an instrument to support and promote initiatives for women in European Fisheries
Areas, particularly under axis 4 of the EFF.
52

France
Maritime sectors: more women joining the ranks
Fisheries and Aquaculture in Europe, n 51, May 2011, p. 10-11.
In the collective imagination, maritime occupations have always been a male
stronghold. Yet womens role and status in maritime activities have evolved con-
siderably over the last 20 years, whether in terms of legal status, access to jobs or
visibility. Since 2009, the FEMMAR project at the University of Nantes has teamed
up researchers from different disciplines to study the sociological, legal, economic
and geographical processes related to these developments and to understand the
paradoxes that sometimes result.
Women in Artisanal Fisheries in Brittany, France
Katia Frangoudes and Enora Keromnes, Development, n 51, 2008, p. 265-270.
French fishers wives play an important role within fisheries enterprises by realizing
different tasks such as administration, repairing fishing gear and selling fish. This
informal contribution became legally recognized with the creation of collaborative
spouse status (CSS) in 1998. Katia Frangoudes and Enora Keromnes discuss the di-
verse contributions of women to Brittany fisheries and the reasons that push wom-
en to opt or not opt for legal status.

Ireland
Women as agents of wellbeing in Northern Irelands fishing households
Easkey Britton, Maritime Studies 2012, 22
This paper focuses on the gender dimensions of wellbeing in fishing households in
Northern Ireland. The impact of change in the fishing industry on womens wellbe-
ing is outlined and linkages are made between changing access to fish and changing
roles of women in fishing households. The paper explores what this change means
for how women perceive and pursue their wellbeing needs and aspirations and how
they negotiate their needs with the needs of the household. In an occupation as
gender biased as fishing it is argued that in order for fisheries management and
policy to be successful, a profile of what really matters to people is important. In
particular, the paper highlights how such priorities link to the complex and dynamic
role of women in fishing households.
 53

United Kingdom
Women as visible and invisible workers in fisheries: A case study of Northern England
Minghu Zhao, Marilyn Tyzack, Rodney Anderson, Estera Onoakpovike, Marine Policy,
vol. 37, January 2013, p. 69-76.
This paper is based on an externally-funded research project on womens roles
and contributions in fisheries conducted in Northern England in 2010. The paper
analyses some of the major roles played by women and their contribution in four
selected sectors: capture fishing, families and communities, trading, processing
and management/administration.
Women in fisheries final report, 30 April 2010
IRIS & Greenwich Maritime Institute, [59] p.
Women play a wide range of roles in the fisheries industry making significant con-
tributions across sectors. However, there is a significant gap in knowledge about
women in English fisheries today, as identified in our literature review conducted at
the early stage of this study. This study aims to help close this knowledge gap and
to inform policy making with evidence-based information collected and analysed by
the Women in Fisheries (WIF) Team from Greenwich Maritime Institute, The Univer-
sity of Greenwich and IRIS Consulting between January and April, 2010.
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