Skip to main content
Book cover

Social Issues in Sustainable Fisheries Management pp 233–254Cite as

Women in English Fisheries: Roles, Contributions, Barriers and Prospects

Part of the MARE Publication Series book series (MARE,volume 9)

Abstract

Worldwide, women play a wide range of roles in fisheries, making significant contributions to the industry across sectors from a variety of positions. However, the existing knowledge about women in today’s English fisheries is inadequate, fragmented and widely scattered in a vast body of discourse. This chapter attempts to help close this gap in knowledge with research findings from a recently-completed study of women in fisheries in England. The primary data was collected in selected coastal areas in England in 2010, with over 80 face-to-face and telephone interviews with women and men in several sectors of the industry being conducted. Geographically, the fieldwork covered 14 fishing ports in Southern and Northern England. This chapter analyses the major roles played by women and their contributions in four selected areas of the industry: capture fishing; families and communities; trading and processing; and management/administration. It also identifies the main issues and barriers that prevent women from full participation in fisheries and from a more effective involvement in policy making in the country. In conclusion, the chapter highlights the importance for women to organise themselves, with the prospect of enhancing women’s participation in various aspects of fisheries, including decision making.

Keywords

  • Gender issues in fisheries
  • Women and social cohesion
  • Women’s contribution to fishing communities in Europe
  • Social change in EU fisheries
  • Women and networking in fisheries

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-7911-2_13
  • Chapter length: 22 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-94-007-7911-2
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Hardcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions
Fig. 13.1
Fig. 13.2
Fig. 13.3
Fig. 13.4
Fig. 13.5
Fig. 13.6

Notes

  1. 1.

    The project was supported by grants from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) UK and the European Commission.

  2. 2.

    Fish market in east London, the largest inland fish market in the UK.

  3. 3.

    NFFO refers to National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations. CPI stands for the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries, an agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, which provides technical support to exporters and BSOs (Business Support Organisations) in developing countries. One of CI’s support activities is the provision of market intelligence reports, which contain all the information to keep exporters and staff of BSOs in step with the very latest developments on the EU market for their specific sector, including fisheries (www.cbi.eu/marketinfo).

References

  • Butcher, D. (1982). Living from the sea: Memories of shore-side life in the days when fishermen’s nets were often full, but their pockets usually empty. Sulhampstead: Tops’l Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butcher, D. (1979). The driftermen: Life in the tough days of Britain’s vanished herring fleets, recalled by the men who manned them. Reading: Tops’l Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, M. D. (1987). Women fishing in Oceania. Human Ecology, 15, 267–288.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Claros, L, & Zahidi, S. (2005), ‘Women’s empowerment: measuring the global gender gap’, World Economic Forum, 2005. https://members.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/gender_gap.pdf (p. 1). Accessed 7 Mar 2012.

  • Cornwall Council. (2011). Facts and figures. http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=18151. Accessed 22 Nov 2011.

  • Countryside Agency. (2003). Capturing richness. Countryside Agency Research Reports and Research Notes. http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/292346?category=60007. Accessed 22 Nov 2011.

  • Davies, S. (2010). A whirling vortex of women: The strikes of scots herring women in East Anglia in the 1930s and 1940s’, Labour History Review, 75(2), 181–207 (Maney Publishing).

    Google Scholar 

  • EC. (2010). Employment in the fisheries sector: Current situation, 2006. The European Commission. (Salz, P., Buisman, E., Smit, J., de Vos, B).

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2003). Women in fisheries: An Unnoticed Role. Fishing in Europe, (17), 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). (2009). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2008. http://www.greenfacts.org/en/fisheries/index.htm. Accessed 6 Feb 2010.

  • Frangoudes, K. (2008). The role of women in the sustainable development of European fisheries. European Parliament, Directorate-General for Internal Policies—Fisheries, pp. 1–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frangoudes, K. (2011). Women can bring a lot to fisheries management if they are allowed to take their rightful place. FARNET Magazine, no.4, Spring-Summer, pp. 15–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frangoudes, K., & O’Doherty, J. (2004). Legal recognition of women’s contribution in fisheries and aquaculture in the European Union. Paper presented to World Fish Centre, Gender Workshop, the 7th Asian Fisheries Forum, Penang, 30 November–4 December.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, V. G. (2004). Differing gender roles: women in mining and fishing communities in Northumberland, England, 1880–1914. Women’s Studies International Forum, 27(5–6), 521–530.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Hoare, J, & Gell, F. (2009). Women’s leadership and participation: Case studies of learning for action (Ed., p. 34), UK: Oxfam GB.

    Google Scholar 

  • ICSF. (2012). Women in fisheries. http://wif.icsf.net/en/bibliography.html?themes=28&start=70. Accessed 15 Dec 2012.

  • Lummis, T. (1985). Occupation and society: The East Anglian fishermen 1880–1914. Cambridge: University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Marine Management organisation (MMO). (2011). The UK Fishing Industry in 2011: Structure and Activity—Tables. http://www.marinemanagement.org.uk/fisheries/statistics/annual_structure2011.htm. Accessed 26 July 2012.

  • MacAlister, E. (2002), ‘The Role of Women in the Fisheries Sector’, Brussels: EC/DC Fisheries Final Report 1443/R.03/C.Makoloweka, S. and K. Shurcliff Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mathews, E. (1993). Women and Fishing in Traditional Pacific island Cultures’, Workshop on People, Society and Pacific Island Fisheries Development and Management: Selected Papers, August, Noumea, pp. 29–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munk-Madsen, E. (1998). The Norwegian fishing quota system: Another patriarchal construction? Society and Natural Resources, 11(3), 229–240.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Nadel-Klein, J. (2000). Granny baited the lines: Perpetual crisis and the changing role of women in scottish fishing communities. Women’s Studies International Forum, 23(3), 363–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadel-Klein, J., & Davis, D. L. (1998). To work and to weep: Women in fishing economies. Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • NFFO (The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations). (2012). Sustainability Initiatives in Fishing. http://www.nffo.org.uk/sustainability.html. Accessed 15 Dec 2012.

  • ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. (2004). Competitive European Cities: Where do the Core Cities Stand?. Urban Research Summary, 13, 12 (PDF).

    Google Scholar 

  • Over, R. (1993). Wives and traders: Women’s careers in Ghanaian Canoe Fisheries. Maritime Anthropological Studies (MAST), 6, 110–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Rana, K., & Cho, P. S. (2001). Women in Fisheries in the European Union. Global Symposium on Women in Fisheries at the Sixth Asian fisheries Forum, 29 November, Kaohsiung, pp. 191–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, R. (1987). A history of the Yorkshire Coast Fishing Industry, 1780–1914. Hull: University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, D. (2004). Looking north: Northern England and the national imagination. Manchester: University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, P. (1985, January). Women in the fishing: The roots of power between the sexes. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 27(01), 3–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tunstall, J. (1962). The Fishermen. London: MacGibbon & Kee.

    Google Scholar 

  • UN (United Nations). (1997). Women and Sustainable Development. Department of Public Information—DPI/1906/SD-June.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weeratunge, N., Snyder, K. A, & Choo, P. S. (2010). Gleaner, fisher, trader, processor: Understanding Gendered Employment in Fisheries and Aquaculture. Fish and Fisheries, 11, 405–420.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcox, M. (2009), Fishing & fishermen: A guide for family historians. Great Britain: Pen & Sword Family History.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yodanis, C. (2000). Constructing gender and occupational segregation: A study of women and work in fishing communities. Qualitative Sociology, 23(3), 267–290.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their most sincere thanks to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs in the UK and the European Commission for their financial support to this study, to Professor Chris Bellamy for helping with the map, and most importantly to many women and men whose participation in this research was most vital for our successful completion of the project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Greenwich Maritime Institute, University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, Park Row, Greenwich, London, SE10 9LS, UK

    Minghua Zhao & Estera Onoakpovike

  2. IRIS Consulting, 5 Golden Square, Soho, London, W1F 9BS, UK

    Marilyn Tyzack & Rodney Anderson

Authors
  1. Minghua Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marilyn Tyzack
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rodney Anderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Estera Onoakpovike
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Minghua Zhao .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The School of Science University of Greenwich, Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom

    Julie Urquhart

  2. University of Greenwich The School of Science, Chatham, United Kingdom

    Tim G. Acott

  3. University of Hull Yorkshire, Hull, United Kingdom

    David Symes

  4. Greenwich Maritime Institute Office University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom

    Minghua Zhao

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Zhao, M., Tyzack, M., Anderson, R., Onoakpovike, E. (2014). Women in English Fisheries: Roles, Contributions, Barriers and Prospects. In: Urquhart, J., Acott, T., Symes, D., Zhao, M. (eds) Social Issues in Sustainable Fisheries Management. MARE Publication Series, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7911-2_13

Download citation