From the Editor
Dear Friends,
Greetings for the New Year! We hope 2002 brings peace and hope.
This issue of Yemaya has a special focus on the European Union as women of fishing communities in countries of the EU tune into the review process of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and its implications for them and for their communities.
We carry the interventions made by women representatives of fishing communities at the Fisheries Committee Meeting of the European Parliament in November 2001.
They note that while the Green Paper on the future of the Common Fisheries Policy stresses that the substantial role played by women in the fisheries sector should be recognized and enhanced, no concrete proposals towards this have been made. What is needed is action, not words, they emphasize.
They point to the disturbing absence of women from decision-making processes and in the consultation process on the future of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). They also express concern about declining support to artisanal fisheries that is threatening the very existence men, women and children of coastal communities, and of their way of life. In this context they stress the need for renewing the artisanal fleet to sustain the sector in the longer term.
From the Netherlands we carry an analysis of the progress that has been made by the VinVis (women in fisheries) network in the one year it has been in existence.
We also carry the report of a visit by a Brazilian researcher working on women in fisheries issues to CONAPACH, the fishworker organization in Chile. Networking of this kind surely contributes to building links between women in the fisheries sector in Latin America and elsewhere. The article from India reports on a Public Hearing organized recently in Kerala, where women fish processors spoke of the impact of globalization processes on their lives.
It seems to be video time and we carry information about two recent video films that focus on women in the fisheries: Smoke in the Water: Problems and Prospects for Developing Artisanal Fish Trade in West Africa, and Rising from the Ashes: A video film on Gender, Globalization and the Fisheries.
The next issue of Yemaya will be brought out in March 2002 and we request you to send us your write-ups and views by 15 February 2002.
