The FAO report on a workshop on Women in Aquaculture held in Rome in 1987.

The Assessment of Women Achievers in Aquaculture Workshop was held in 2004, in Charente-Maritime (Rochefort – near La Rochelle), France with the financial support of the Directorate-General Fisheries of the European Commission.

Despite these initiatives, conditions in the Third World are as challenging as ever. A. Shaleesha and V. A. Stanley report in Involvement of Rural Women in Aquaculture: An Innovative Approach that although women have proved to be competent in adopting new aquaculture technologies, their role is very much restricted and often ignored. One of the major reasons is the location of aquaculture sites and several sociocultural taboos against women who strive to earn for their family’s subsistence in rural areas. There is a gender bias in many aquaculture activities. To ensure that women utilize their full potential in profitable activities like aquaculture, it is necessary to provide capacity building support to rural women, which will eventually lead to their empowerment. In countries like India, the technology provided to women must take into account cultural aspects. One such project – backyard ornamental fish breeding and management – has been found to offer immense scope for improving the livelihood of rural women. This paper gives some practical tips for dissemination of technology in the rural sector, particularly to rural women.

An excellent case study on how seaweed farming helps women in Tanzania outlines how quite simple efforts can make a positive impact in household incomes and become literally life changing.

For example in Cambodia, higher yields are obtained from fish ponds managed mainly by women. In Thailand and China, they often bear the sole responsibility of farm and aquaculture production because of male migration to cities. However, women’s contribution to aquaculture is often unrecognised and the real benefits from their involvement in the activity are not objectively assessed. This is surprising given that small-scale aquaculture development is increasingly considered as a means by which the livelihoods of the poor, including women, could be improved.

The results contained in a final project report by: Brugere, C., Kusakabe, K., Kelkar, G., Felsing, M. and Muir, J.F. (2001) Women in Aquaculture. Project FWG 03/99, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, Singapore; is fascinating reading.