Digital divide: your role in bridging the gap in aquatic library services for the disconnected [Keynote]

pp. 19-3

Global Symposium on Gender and Fisheries : Seventh Asian Fisheries Forum, 1-2 December 2004, Penang, Malaysia

The 18 papers contained in this volume represent a substantive contribution to the literature on the topic of gender and fisheries. Drawing on work undertaken around the globe, the results described here confirm and extend earlier work and show that contributions to the fisheries sector among different genders are highly differentiated but uniformly substantial. As with many other sectors, however, the size and nature of the contribution of women in particular, is inadequately recognized and there is rarely an equitable distribution to each gender of the benefits that derive from their inputs. Such problems are especially stark for the small-scale fisheries of developing countries where women often bear brunt of poverty that pervades the sector.Socioeconomic aspects, Women, Labour, Fishery management, Fishery development, Fishery economics, Fishery regulations, Fish culture, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand, I, Pacific, Vanuatu, Philippines, India, Taiwan, Cambodia, Kiribati, European Union, Canada,

Malaysia: Mangrove-friendly aquaculture

The paper describes some mangrove-friendly aquaculture activities that are practiced in Malaysia. Among these are the culture of cockle and oyster, semi-intensive culture of tiger prawn, fish cage culture, and pen culture of mud crab. Policies, regulations, future directions and priority areas in research and development that can contribute to sustainable mangrove utilization are discussed

Avoiding pitfalls in development projects that aspire to empower women: a review of the Asian Fisheries Society gender and fisheries symposium papers

Many papers from the five Asian Fisheries Society (AFS) women/gender symposia reported on efforts to empower women but not on the underlying empowerment premises. To better understand women's empowerment, we chose to define the root word "power" based on feminist development literature. We then used the Longwe Women's Empowerment Framework to assess how each project from the 20 papers selected from the AFS women/gender symposia, has contributed to the process of women’s empowerment. This framework proposes five levels of empowerment - welfare, access, conscientisation, mobilisation and control. Our results showed that most of the projects described in the selected papers achieved empowerment at the welfare or welfare to access levels, and in some cases the achievement at a fragile access level had reverted back to the welfare level. Our findings thus showed that women are still far from being able to define their own needs and priorities and to control resources which may help them to challenge their subordinate positions. In the fishery sector, feminist concepts of empowerment, which should have a place at the core of women’s empowerment efforts, have been avoided. Unless women in the fisheries sector are able to construct a collective self to define and defend their gender needs, the control level of empowerment will remain far beyond their reach

Call to action? Survey highlights the shortcomings of business-as-usual in addressing gender equality in the fishery sector

In the fishery sector, too little attention is paid to gender equality, and gender-blind policies and programmes render the issue as peripheral or invisible. Since 1990, the Asian Fisheries Society (AFS) has paid sustained attention to gender, although at a modest level. In order to gauge how the small cadre of gender experts perceived progress in mobilising attention and action on gender in fisheries, we conducted an online structured survey. Using Actor Network Theory as the questionnaire framework, we analysed the responses from 41 experts. The respondents perceived that the understanding of the gender inequality issues has progressed well but the strategic messages arising are not communicated strongly nor well targeted. Few workers, and even fewer full time professionals, are dedicated to the field of gender research and action, and research is not well linked to grassroots needs. Therefore, the field suffers from weak efforts to enroll more champions, leaders and actors and reach critical mass for mobilisation for gender equality. For mobilisation to happen, targeted, dedicated resources are urgently needed, including full time people, institutional support and projects. To achieve this will require strong, perhaps even confrontational, campaigns and plans, from within the fishery sector, led by a self-nominated core group of committed women and men concerned with inequality in the fishery sector

Harmful Algae Management and Mitigation: Can WorldFish Center Play a Role?

ABSTRACT WorldFish Center (initially known as ICLARM-International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management) was founded in 1977 in Manila, Philippines through funds provided by the Rockefeller Foundation. In May 1992, it became a member of the Consultative Group in International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an organization dedicated to food security and poverty eradication through research, partnerships, capacity building and policy support. In February 2000, the Headquarters of the WorldFish Center was relocated to Penang. WorldFish Center addresses aquatic resources research and is internationally recognized as a center of excellence for many of its aquatic programs. We have developed several databases such as FishBase, Reefbase and TrawlBase which are widely used throughout the world, and several software packages such as FiSat (FAO-ICLARM Stock Assessment Tools) and FiRST (Fisheries Resources Information System and Tools). Apart from our strength in database development, we also have vast experiences in coordinating regional projects and working with, and upgrading skills of national partners. We have the capability to develop a global database for Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) as well as early warning prediction systems. We are able to provide also information and training to our partners. Our research experiences in coastal zone management and in co-management will enable us to offer useful insights on solutions to policy and management issues pertaining to HAB and to provide advice on the roles of farmers and central agencies in managing HAB, particularly during an outbreak