Capacities and gaps in Caribbean fisherfolk organization leadership

Abstract

Organizational leadership is one of the most important roles for both women and men in the fishing industry. Empowerment of fisherfolk organization and strengthening or development of their capacity, especially in relation to leadership, is important to the successful implementation of the 2014 Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) and the realization of sustainable fisheries and stewardship. Leadership is a challenging and relatively recent fisheries research topic, and gender is poorly documented in Caribbean fisheries. The deficiency of knowledge on leadership and gender was addressed through fisherfolk organization leader assessments to assist in understanding capacities and gaps in Caribbean fisherfolk organization leadership for informing gender and other aspects of overall SSF Guidelines implementation. Our work contributes to a baseline of knowledge on fisher organization leaders in the region. It confirms some already known information on fisherfolk organizations, documenting this and new information. Dimensions such as decision-making, gender, participation, governance, education and assets relevant to fisherfolk leadership are covered in the leadership profile developed. We discuss the implications of this preliminary and exploratory applied research for Caribbean fisheries in the context of the SSF Guidelines, and a way forward.

Keywords:

• Caribbean
• fisherfolk organization
• gender
• leadership
• small-scale fisheries

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maria Pena

Maria Pena is a Project Officer at the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. She is co-lead of the CERMES initiated Gender in Fisheries Team (GIFT).

Patrick McConney

Patrick McConney is Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), University of the West Indies (UWI) in Barbados. His current applied research focuses mainly on resilience in marine social-ecological systems in the Caribbean.

Leisa Perch

Leisa Perch is the CEO and Founder of SAEDI Consulting Barbados Inc. She has 20+ years of development experience; 15 years at the international level (13 with the UN system in climate change, poverty reduction, livelihoods, gender equality policy, inclusive green growth, inclusive green economy, research and gender mainstreaming.

Terrence Phillips

Terrence Phillips is a former fisheries manager, with over 30 years’ experience in fisheries. His areas of focus include governance, management, ecosystem approaches and livelihoods in small-scale fisheries.