The fisheries sector in Spain has a deep-rooted tradition of women being present in every one of the areas and subsectors of activity, making an essential contribution to the economic and social development of the sector.
They work at most of the ports and shores along the coast, but until recently, they have been barely visible and their work hardly recognized. Their work was considered supplementary to that done by men, as they were the ones who were out at sea and remained for long periods away from home, while women took care of the family and were responsible for the domestic economy, contributing with their labour to trades also linked to the sector.
Important women’s presence in Spanish fisheries sector
There are some activities that even today are mainly carried out by women, such as gathering seafood by hand, where women represent 68%, with a particularly significant presence in the region of Galicia (82%). Women also dominate several activities directly related to fishing, such as manufacture and repair of nets (where women net makers represent 89% of the workforce), fish offloading, sorting of catches and ship provisioning. In the aquaculture sector, women are strongly represented in the marine aquaculture subsector (where they represent 29% of workers), mainly on mussels platforms, and they also participate prominently in inland aquaculture, where they represent 19.5% of the total workforce. The fish processing industry has historically been a field dominated by women (it is estimated they represent 74% of employment) particularly in the canning industry, in anchovy cleaning, and in smoking and salting factories. They also play an important role in sales, especially in the fish retail industry and related trades (53%). There are also women engaged in the wholesale trade (28%), in other sales outlets, and in online sales channels.
However, in the case of sea fishing, female employment has been – and continues to be – very low (around 5%) due to structural barriers, such as the unsuitability of vessels for mixed crews. This greatly limits the access of women to activity on board, especially in high-sea fishing. In total, the significance of women in the Spanish fishing sector is today undeniable, as it is estimated they represent 36% of the employment in all extractive activities and subsectors using seafood as raw material. However, although these workers have come a long way to make themselves visible and professionally recognized, there is still a long way to go.
Organisation and professionalisation leads to improvements in labour conditions
At the beginning of the last decade, women in the fishing sector understood that to claim their space in a traditionally male-dominated sector, it was necessary to unite and work together to defend their rights and interests. With this in mind, the different groups of workers began to form their own associations, initially in the local and trade union sphere, through which they could improve their capacity of representation and salary. Over the years and with the support of the government, different groups of women in the extractive primary sector (shellfish gatherers, net makers, and subsequently neskatillas and women involved in packing) are getting professional certificates.
As the movement to organise women matured it brought about improvements in working conditions. Among other achievements, women were included in the special social security system for sea workers, changes were made to the retirement age (in the case of shellfish gatherers), studies were sponsored on labour-related illnesses among women and on the implementation of mechanisms for their prevention, and facilities and workplaces were adapted appropriately.
Spanish Women’s Network in the fisheries sector launched
To contribute to the visibility of these groups of women, in 2010 the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, launched the Spanish Women’s Network in the fisheries sector: a platform on the EU level, together with the AKTEA European Network, which is already working with more than 90 organizations in the Spanish fisheries sector. Since the beginning, the Spanish Women’s Network in the fisheries sector has worked to promote and to support the role of female workers, fostering their partnership and entrepreneurship, and encouraging the communication and exchange of initiatives and good practices. For this purpose, visibility and dissemination actions such as organizing national conferences, preparing newsletters, studies, reports and other publications on gender, establishing an online presence through a website and social networks, have been carried out.
In 2014 the General Secretariat of Fisheries introduced the principle of equality of treatment and opportunity through a law 33/2014 (26 December). This was a milestone in the fight for gender equality, as it established the regulatory framework at a national level to fight all forms of discrimination in the fisheries sector and contributed to improve the situation of women working there. Moreover, the development of a Plan for Gender Equality in the fisheries and aquaculture sector for the period 2015-2020, gave a new boost to equal opportunities.
Because of these and other actions, today women’s participation is considered not only beneficial to the fisheries sector, but fundamental to its proper development. However, female participation should be not only in terms of labour, but at all levels, including representative, decision-making, and advisory.
A need to consolidate the gains of the last years
The next step for further progress towards full and effective equality of opportunity in the fisheries sector is to ensure the balance of power between the genders. In addition, even if nowadays there are already women in prominent positions in the management and government bodies of the sector (associations, local fishery action groups, producer organisations and other sectoral entities), this emerging female leadership must still be consolidated. With this in mind, a National Association of Women in Fisheries (ANMUPESCA) has been created, which brings together different women’s groups working in fisheries-related fields.
Women in fisheries have displayed an admirable ability to face the challenges, to adapt themselves to different contexts, and to embrace emerging changes and opportunities. A clear example of this is their entrepreneurial spirit, which they have demonstrated in recent years, leading a large number of successful business projects, which have helped to generate wealth and jobs in their communities and fishing areas. In addit
ion, women have been the first to see that diversification is a way to complement incomes and make their activity more profitable, and therefore they are involved in initiatives related with fishing or sailing tourism (fishing tourism, fishing craft, guided routes in gathering seafood areas, ports or other facilities where they work to publicise their profession, etc.). There are many projects in this sense promoted by women, some of which have received international recognition, as is the case of the awarded by the European Fisheries Areas Network (FARNET) as an example of good practices in sustainable development of coastal territories.
Women are a part of a tradition in fisheries, but they are also the present and obviously the future of the fisheries industry, which cannot ignore women if it is looking to progress, modernise and become more competitive, as they represent about half the talent in this country.
For further information about Spanish Women’s Network in the fisheries sector, visit:
http://www.mapama.gob.es/es/pesca/temas/red-mujeres/