Welcome   Sponsored By
Subscribe | Register | Advertise | Newsletter | About us | Contact us
   


PRESS RELEASE: Why using a gender lens to analyse COVID-19 impacts on the seafood industry?

WORLDWIDE
Wednesday, April 08, 2020, 00:00 (GMT + 9)

Why do we need a gender lens to deal with COVID-19 risks and impacts on fisheries andaquaculture? Because at this point of the pandemic, though we can’t fully depict what the consequences will be on both genders, we can ascertain that the coronavirus outbreak will hit women harder than men, threaten progress made in empowering women and will deepen gender inequities already pervasive in this economic sector.

WSI will watch how the contagion of the economic downturn hits both genders in fisheries, aquaculture and the entire seafood value chain, and will examine more closely the situation that women encounter.


Global crisis

The pandemic is spreading all over the world and national responses vary greatly according to the different countries’ healthcare systems, its capacities, quality of care and conditions of access. One universal feature is that women are on the frontline of the battle against the virus in every country. With very few exceptions women represent a vast majority (70%) of the healthcare workforce, bear a great part in the responsibility for the care and education continuity of the children when schools have closed and keep the family safe during this very uncertain time. However, we must not forget that women in the food industry, particularly in seafood, are also part of this upfront. They have a key role in ensuring food security for all.

The seafood industry’s gender division of labour: women more exposed to virus 

Let us recall that women occupy a significant part of fisheries workforce, representing half of the entire world labor force in this  sector. FAO estimates that women comprise 15% of the harvesting workforce, 70% in aquaculture, 80 to 90% in seafood processing. They also represent 60% of seafood traders and retailers in Africa and Asia. Plainly women are fundamental agents in the organization and functioning of the local, regional and global flows of seafood.

Furthermore men and women occupy distinct roles along the seafood value chain. CEO, board members and fishermen are nearly all males. Whereas employees in processing plants, for example shrimp peelers, are nearly all female. The seafood industry shows a strong gendered vertical division of labour whereby a majority of ignored, invisible, unrecognized (IIU) women occupy low-revenue jobs and where top jobs are occupied mostly by men. In that regard, the Coronavirus will strike genders differently so the gender imbalance will be shaping experiences among women and men affected by the pandemic, unequally.



Identifying the positions that most women occupy can already shed light on the impacts that this crisis will be having on them. Women mostly present at the bottom may have to continue their working activities to get an income, the opportunity to stay at home like those at the top not being offered to them. Occupations in processing plants and on retail markets have higher exposure to the virus, and women are behind them.

One emergency response given by some companies is to protect their frontline employees processing seafood by ensuring decent and safe working environments with proper protective equipment. This requires changes in work routines, purchase in protective equipment and clothing. Not all companies will have complied with these strict recommendations.

Coronavirus and economic crash

In this world-wide pandemic, markets of labour, seafood and other inputs (such as finances) will be deeply affected. Firstly, job losses, estimated at 25 million says the ILO will be inevitable. The fall in business revenues will inexorably result in the reduction of costs by laying off workers, starting with temporary and casual ones disproportionally occupied by women. For instance, this is already happening in the Chilean salmon industry which is reducing the production capacity of its plants by almost half and layoffs are already happening among precarious workers. We have already seen the early effects on the seafood business and fishing communities relying on imports from China. The consequent rise in prices induces a severe disruption of local markets as seen in Cameroun or South Africa.

The widespread work-from-home movement will enable millions of workers to keep their jobs and their salary partly or fully.But this arrangement is largely available to white-collar workers. In the seafood industry, those office workers protected by full time work contracts are mainly men. Women in low-paid jobs with insecure employment conditions are at greater risk of losing their income. When women lose their income, they severely cut budgets supporting the well-being of their children, households and communities (housing, food, healthcare or childcare).

Disruption along the seafood value chain

Who will be the most affected link in the chain when the seafood value chain will be disrupted? How the drop in landings and consequent fast rising prices such as already observed in West Africa affect male fishermen, female processors, female retailers and the entire community? How will the stop of movements of seafood impact the different categories of players? We have already witnessed that exhaustion of marine resources has had dramatic impact on women (in charge of processing, trading) and we may fear similar disproportionate and discriminatory effects of the COVID 19.

In order to answer these question and to put forward smart and resilient responses, we need gender disaggregated data in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. Efforts in this direction must also be made in surveillance and monitoring stages of the pandemic. Effective responses need to be backed by quality data and evidence-based solutions. Secondly, women must be a part of decision-making process that public authorities will engage. As far as WSI is concerned we will set up a data collection program and organize a watch on the local and regional impact of the pandemic.

Very probable prospects in a highly uncertain future

The way to achieve 2030 SDGs will be critically hampered by the economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis. We face the possibility that when resources are needed to combat the pandemic, the ability of countries to spend on other development priorities, such as combating climate crisis or gender inequality, will be severely constrained. We run the risk that in the period of high economic turbulences leaders will think that gender equality (SGD 5) is not a priority, and that it can wait until the economy is looking up. This would amount to repeating a mistake. In overlooking the gender dimension of gender in the seafood industry, policy makers have drawn wrong diagnosis on marine resources and economic management. Consequently their suggestion to meet SDG14 -Life below water-could only but miss the target. What is needed first and foremost is awareness on the fact that SDG 14 will not be attained if 
50% of the population it affects is not taken into consideration. Gender must be embedded in all elements and targets of SDG 14 policy.

When we are ready to get back on our feet and get the blue economy going again - hopefully a truly sustainable version of the blue economy- decision makers must consider the gender organization of the industry. We otherwise predict that responses will fail and increase inequalities between women and men. Research from other types of health crises has shown that leaving gender inequalities out of the crisis response has further compounded those inequalities. WSI considers that if we want to find the most effective ways to deal with COVID-19, all workers, especially women need to be listened and associated in building future responses.

Natalia Briceño-Lagos & Marie Christine Monfort,
WSI, The International Organisation for Women in the Seafood Industry

 

editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media


 Print


Click to know how to advertise in FIS
MORE NEWS



Lenguaje
FEATURED EVENTS
  
TOP STORIES
Clipfish challenges in Brazil: Port bureaucracy stops millions worth
Brazil More and more clipfish containers are being stopped in Brazilian ports. - Complicated regulations make market access challenging, to say the least, say Norwegian exporters who risk large losses. Bra...
Catches in the Sea of Okhotsk and Bering Sea
Russia Fed. Situational update as of 03/24/2024 Source: Stockfile FIS Sea of Okhotsk (pollock) According to OSM data in the Sea of Okhotsk, pollock catch (industrial and coastal fisheries) as of March 24, 20...
Productive Development of the Fishing Activity
Peru Fishing Sector Bulletin - January 2024 The landing of hydrobiological resources registered a negative interannual variation of 62.7%, as a result of the lower landing of fishing resources for indirec...
NGO Sues UK Government Over International Fishing Quotas
United Kingdom Blue Marine Foundation, a charity dedicated to restoring the ocean to health, has launched legal proceedings over the government’s decision to set fishing opportunities, for more than half UK st...
 

Maruha Nichiro Corporation
Nichirei Corporation - Headquarters
Pesquera El Golfo S.A.
Ventisqueros - Productos del Mar Ventisqueros S.A
Wärtsilä Corporation - Wartsila Group Headquarters
ITOCHU Corporation - Headquarters
BAADER - Nordischer Maschinenbau Rud. Baader GmbH+Co.KG (Head Office)
Inmarsat plc - Global Headquarters
Marks & Spencer
Tesco PLC (Supermarket) - Headquarters
Sea Harvest Corporation (PTY) Ltd. - Group Headquarters
I&J - Irvin & Johnson Holding Company (Pty) Ltd.
AquaChile S.A. - Group Headquarters
Pesquera San Jose S.A.
Nutreco N.V. - Head Office
CNFC China National Fisheries Corporation - Group Headquarters
W. van der Zwan & Zn. B.V.
SMMI - Sunderland Marine Mutual Insurance Co., Ltd. - Headquarters
Icicle Seafoods, Inc
Starkist Seafood Co. - Headquearters
Trident Seafoods Corp.
American Seafoods Group LLC - Head Office
Marel - Group Headquarters
SalMar ASA - Group Headquarters
Sajo Industries Co., Ltd
Hansung Enterprise Co.,Ltd.
BIM - Irish Sea Fisheries Board (An Bord Iascaigh Mhara)
CEFAS - Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science
COPEINCA ASA - Corporacion Pesquera Inca S.A.C.
Chun Cheng Fishery Enterprise Pte Ltd.
VASEP - Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters & Producers
Gomes da Costa
Furuno Electric Co., Ltd. (Headquarters)
NISSUI - Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd. - Group Headquarters
FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization - Fisheries and Aquaculture Department (Headquarter)
Hagoromo Foods Co., Ltd.
Koden Electronics Co., Ltd. (Headquarters)
A.P. Møller - Maersk A/S - Headquarters
BVQI - Bureau Veritas Quality International (Head Office)
UPS - United Parcel Service, Inc. - Headquarters
Brim ehf (formerly HB Grandi Ltd) - Headquarters
Hamburg Süd Group - (Headquearters)
Armadora Pereira S.A. - Grupo Pereira Headquarters
Costa Meeresspezialitäten GmbH & Co. KG
NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Headquarters)
Mowi ASA (formerly Marine Harvest ASA) - Headquarters
Marubeni Europe Plc -UK-
Findus Ltd
Icom Inc. (Headquarter)
WWF Centroamerica
Oceana Group Limited
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Ajinomoto Co., Inc. - Headquarters
Friosur S.A. - Headquarters
Cargill, Incorporated - Global Headquarters
Benihana Inc.
Leardini Pescados Ltda
CJ Corporation  - Group Headquarters
Greenpeace International - The Netherlands | Headquarters
David Suzuki Foundation
Fisheries and Oceans Canada -Communications Branch-
Mitsui & Co.,Ltd - Headquarters
NOREBO Group (former Ocean Trawlers Group)
Natori Co., Ltd.
Carrefour Supermarket - Headquarters
FedEx Corporation - Headquarters
Cooke Inc. - Group Headquarters
AKBM - Aker BioMarine ASA
Seafood Choices Alliance -Headquarter-
Austevoll Seafood ASA
Walmart | Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Supermarket) - Headquarters
New Japan Radio Co.Ltd (JRC) -Head Office-
Gulfstream JSC
Marine Stewardship Council - MSC Worldwide Headquarters
Royal Dutch Shell plc (Headquarter)
Genki Sushi Co.,Ltd -Headquarter-
Iceland Pelagic ehf
AXA Assistance Argentina S.A.
Caterpillar Inc. - Headquarters
Tiger Brands Limited
SeaChoice
National Geographic Society
AmazonFresh, LLC - AmazonFresh

Copyright 1995 - 2024 Seafood Media Group Ltd.| All Rights Reserved.   DISCLAIMER