Recognizing Women’s Role in Fisheries and Aquatic Food Systems

Women play important roles across fisheries value chains. Recognizing and empowering them is an essential step in building a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive aquatic food system. WorldFish and its partners advance this agenda through gender-responsive research, policy engagement, and community-based programs that elevate women’s roles and leadership in fisheries and aquaculture.

Aquatic food systems have played a vital role in sustaining communities, yet women’s contributions within these systems remain undervalued. While the traditional image of a fisher often depicts men, women are also integral to many aspects of the fisheries workforce, accounting for nearly half of the workforce. In village markets, on processing racks, along muddy riverbanks and coastal mangroves, women have always had a hand in gleaning, drying, selling, cleaning, managing, and organizing trade. Their roles, crucial for the functionality of these systems, are frequently overlooked in decision-making processes. Elevating women’s roles in fisheries is essential for developing stronger and more sustainable aquatic food systems, a goal pursued by Worldfish and its partners through gender-responsive research, policy engagement, and community-based programs

WorldFish took progressive steps, supporting partnerships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and exploring women’s contributions in aquaculture. They developed frameworks, facilitated internal training, and launched a gender analysis toolkit for small-scale fisheries. WorldFish moves beyond gender inclusion toward gender transformation. This approach not only involves women in projects or counts participation rates but reimagines the systems that limit what women and men are able to do and to change who holds power, who makes decisions, and who benefits. Through its Gender Transformative Approach (GTA), gender equality is embedded within the core design of fisheries and aquaculture programs, ensuring that women’s contributions are recognized, valued, and integral to the industry rather than treated as an afterthought. The application of GTA across research programs also seeks to address and change the underlying attitudes, behaviors, and power relations that sustain gender inequality. 

A major leap occurred through the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems, where WorldFish served as the lead center and operationalized GTA through country-level research and interventions in Zambia, Bangladesh, the Solomon Islands, and the Philippines. These efforts explored how gender intersects with key issues like financial inclusion, nutrition, and technology. New initiatives integrated GTA into existing structures, particularly in saving and lending communities, nutrition programs, and fish processing technologies. These interventions led to practical improvements that delivered life-changing benefits to women in fisheries and aquaculture.

Reference: 

WorldFish. 2025. 50 Years of WorldFish: From Fisheries Science to Aquatic Food Systems for Sustainable Development. Penang, Malaysia: WorldFish. Coffee table book: 2025-18.