{"id":96374,"date":"2022-07-21T17:00:59","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T11:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icsf.net\/?post_type=yemaya&p=96374"},"modified":"2022-07-21T17:02:55","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T11:32:55","slug":"from-latin-america-brazil-who-is-a-fishworker","status":"publish","type":"yemaya","link":"https:\/\/www.icsf.net\/yemaya\/from-latin-america-brazil-who-is-a-fishworker\/","title":{"rendered":"From Latin America\/ Brazil: Who is a fishworker?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A discussion group on gender and fisheries at a recent seminar in Brazil, debated the situation of women of fishing communities<\/strong><\/p>\n

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By Maria Cristina Maneschy, a professor at the Federal University of Para in Belem, Brazil, and a member of ICSF<\/strong><\/p>\n

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During the General Assembly of the Conselho Pastoral dos Pescadores <\/em>(CPP), held in Lagoa Seca, Para\u00edba State, Brazil from 17 to 19 November 2000, one of the themes was \u2018Gender Relations in Fisheries\u2019. A discussion group was formed with 29 participants, most of them women from different fishing communities. There were also support people from NGOs, as well as community and union leaders.<\/p>\n

This represented a rare opportunity to understand the various ways in which women participate in the fisheries and in fishworker organizations, the difficulties they face in being recognized and valued, as well as to discuss the progress that has been made. Some of the debates are described below. One of the participants, Mrs. Roquelina Almeida, introduced herself as follows: \u201cfisherwoman, poetess, writer, director of the col\u00f4nia <\/em>(professional organization of fishermen) of fishermen from Maragogipe, Bahia State, and director of the local association of residents.\u201d She said that she had begun fishing since she was a child, but that in her time, \u201ca woman could only be a marisqueira <\/em>(seafood collector). Today, thank God I got the right of being a pescadora <\/em>(fisherwoman).\u201d<\/p>\n

A shared view among the participants was that women often do not consider themselves as fishers. According to Mrs. Petr\u00facia, president of the co-operative of Ponto da Barra, Macei\u00f3, Alagoas: \u201c<\/em>women are quiet; they are fisherwomen, but they don\u2019t like to participate. However, the men are worse than the women, they participate even less.<\/em>\u201d She emphasized the fragility of the organization of fishermen, an opinion shared by many of those present. In her turn, a fisherwoman named L\u00eddia, director of the col\u00f4nia <\/em>of Arana\u00edin in the municipal district of Cachoeira, Par\u00e1 state, said that in her community progress had been notable. Four of the five directors in Fortim are presently women (all except for the President).<\/p>\n

Mrs. Dolores, sociologist from Instituto Terramar, Cear\u00e1 state, pointed to the lack of data in governmental bodies, in universities, and in organizations, on the work women do in fisheries. In the municipality of Fortim, for example, women collect seafood and they fish. As a result of the work of the current President of the col\u00f4nia, <\/em>a woman, there are today about 80 women registered in the col\u00f4nia<\/em>. In other places in Cear\u00e1, some women collect algae and, sometimes, they fish with nets on the shore. The algae has a good market for the cosmetics industry, but the collectors sell this at very low prices. At times this income is the only one for maintaining the family.<\/p>\n

Dolores emphasized that many women in fishing communities combine fishing with handicraft and other activities. This makes their official recognition as fishers by the technicians from the welfare institute, difficult. While investigating cases in villages, they have to decide whether the woman applying for retirement or other benefits is a housewife, an embroiderer or a fisher. The characteristic machismo <\/em>of the col\u00f4nia <\/em>was described by Francisca Ester of Parajiru, Cear\u00e1, President of the local community association. \u201cThe only woman who goes to the col\u00f4nia <\/em>there, is me. You don\u2019t see a woman there. I ask the fishermen, please, bring your wives for the col\u00f4nia <\/em>meetings so they can get informed!\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Francisca, almost all of the villagers in Parajiru take crabs in the swamps, as well as oysters and sururus <\/em>(small mussels). Mrs. C\u00e1rita Chagas, president of the women\u2019s association in the village of Cachoeira, Par\u00e1, emphasized the points common to the situation of women across several states. She emphasized that the Mayor of her town and the management of the col\u00f4nia <\/em>have not showed any interest in complying with the demands of the fishers, men or women, especially of the women.<\/p>\n

With the support of outsiders, women in her municipality have formed two associations. These women took an active role during the last elections of the col\u00f4nia<\/em>. \u201cLast year we removed the former President of the col\u00f4nia<\/em>. The current one is committed and the women have more space inside it. \u2026The col\u00f4nia <\/em>of the municipal district was founded 70 years ago. However, it was opened to women only a year \u00a0ago.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately in many cases the barrier is cultural. It is the history of submission that is reproduced.\u201d The subject, who is fisherman or fisherwoman<\/em>, <\/strong>raised heated discussions. One of the issues discussed was the status of the women who weave nets, salt fish, take care of the fishing equipment and other related tasks. Who are they? Do they have to be recognized as fishworkers? In fact, they are not considered legally as fishworkers.<\/p>\n

In this context it was noted that in this discussion group on gender, there were hardly a few men. This was seen as indicative of the fact that within the category of fishermen, the discussion on such issues still interests only the women and is not seen as a priority. The participants of this mini-seminar presented their \u2018histories\u2019. In spite of the progress that has been made, their testimonies showed that while women work, and have always worked, their work remains largely invisible.<\/p>\n

The seminar pointed to the urgent need to produce data concerning women\u2019s work in the fisheries, and the links between fishing and other related work. If the statistics on fisheries are poor, on the work of women in the fisheries, they are absent. The traditional approach that regards women\u2019s works as \u2018complementary\u2019 reinforces this invisibility. The testimonies at the seminar made it clear that women in fishing communities undertake different activities, unlike the fishermen, who tend to be specialized (net fishermen, fixed-trap fishermen, lobster fishermen etc).<\/p>\n

Women:<\/p>\n