How has organization benefited women in the Barbados flyingfish fishery? A look from within

Abstract

Collective action and the diversity of forms it may take in fisherfolk organizing is complex. Efforts to implement the 2014 Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) have resulted in increasing global to local attention on fisherfolk organizations, their strengthening and governance. These include women’s roles and participation in them, both as members and as leaders. There is limited literature on women in fisherfolk organizations in Barbados. Women in the flyingfish postharvest sector are conspicuous, but how some work through their fisherfolk organization is undocumented. The Central Fish Processors Association (CFPA) formed to address challenges small fish processors were experiencing in their livelihoods. Through group interviews and document analysis, benefits to the women from participation in this all-woman organization, and the challenges they face, were explored by examining the links between collective action, organization and gender. We document the collective action of these women in preparing to make practical interventions for improvements to their working and domestic lives. It is the first research focused on organized women in the Barbados flyingfish fishery, deviating from the typical focus on men in its harvest sector.

Keywords:

• Fisherfolk organization
• small-scale fisheries
• Caribbean
• flyingfish
• women

Notes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Estimates based on best available data and information from countries; sex-disaggregated data unavailable.

2 Membership profile based on the results of three small group meetings with 12 CFPA members in 2017 and 2018, to examine livelihoods of women engaged in this fisherfolk organization.

3 Livelihoods analysis with the CFPA by CERMES-led GIFT: Sept, Oct 2017 and August 2018.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maria Pena

Maria Pena's interests are in the biological and socio-economic aspects of marine resource management. She is Project Officer at the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. In this capacity she has been involved in, assisted with, implemented and managed numerous externally funded marine resource management projects in the wider Caribbean including socio-economic monitoring at marine protected areas (MPAs) and coastal sites; fisheries management planning; MPA management effectiveness evaluation; marine resource governance; climate change adaptation and disaster risk management in fisheries and aquaculture; and more recently, gender in small-scale fisheries.

Patrick McConney

Dr Patrick McConney is the Director of the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies. His current applied research is mainly on small-scale fisheries and marine protected area social-ecological systems in the Wider Caribbean. This research includes ecosystem approaches, livelihoods, socio-economics, gender, adaptive capacity, resilience, management, planning, institutions, organizations and governance.

Bertha Simmons

Originally from Bluefields, Nicaragua, Bertha Simmons graduated as a social worker from the Central American University in Nicaragua She took postgraduate courses in conflict resolution at the European Peace University in Austria and on gender in development projects at Puntos de Encuentro, in Managua, Nicaragua. She received an MSc in Natural Resource Management (specialization in Coastal and Marine Resource Management) at the University of the West Indies. Ms. Simmons is currently an Affiliate Member of the Barbados National Union of Fisherfolk Organisations (BARNUFO), a Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) mentor to BARNUFO and also a member of the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) led Gender in Fisheries Team (GIFT).

Neetha Selliah

Neetha Selliah is the academic administrator for CERMES, responsible for the efficient and effective management of all operations related to the academic programmes. Her research focus is on advancing the sustainable social and economic development in the Caribbean region with emphasis on promoting local engagement, community self-reliance and applicable resource mobilization mechanisms. Her research highlights work on the Barbados trap fishery; project management of Upscaling Sustainable Resource Management in Coastal Watershed Communities of Barbados' National Park and System of Open Spaces - The Conset Bay Pilot Project with outputs including an institutional assessment and strengthening initiative for a small-scale fishing community; and assisting the community in developing a local sustainable fisheries code to promote responsible fisheries development and management; and being a Barbados National Union of Fisherfolk Organizations (BARNUFO) mentor. More recently she has been working on the Sustainable Tourism, Optimal Resource and Environmental Management (STOREM) project; and assisted The Gender in Fisheries Team (GIFT) on their work with women in fisheries on a local level. Ms. Selliah is also a founding member of the Grapefruit and Molasses Foodies, a community-based organization, whose primary focus is the promotion of sustainable local gastronomy.