The International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF)’s journal Yemaya recently published a summary of highlights of DFM’s participation in the 8th Global Conference on Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries (GAF-8) in Kochi, India, in November 2022. The article, co-authored by Derek Johnson, Nikita Gopal, Kyoko Kusakabe, Tara Nair, and Mirza Taslima Sultana and titled “The Gendered Economy of Dried Fish”, underscores the often-overlooked contributions of women in Asia’s dried fish economy.
The three DFM panels began with two presentations that summarized theoretical approaches to gender taken within the project. The remaining 13 presentations focused on different empirical cases of gender in social economies of dried fish from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Kerala, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Discussions at GAF-8 underscored the pivotal role of gender and feminist perspectives in understanding the Asian dried fish economy. By applying feminist theory, the DFM project aims to tease apart the intricate webs of gendered labor, power dynamics, and structural inequalities shaping dried fish production and trade. It seeks to amplify the voices of women, whose contributions often go unrecognized.
The article points to the complexities of dried fish value chains from a gender perspective, highlighting the significant roles women play. The gendered nature of the dried fish economy extends beyond production to consumption, with gendered inequality present across the value chain. Despite their indispensable contributions, women often face barriers such as limited access to space, resources, and decision-making processes. These structural conditions perpetuate gender inequalities within the sector and must be a priority consideration for interventions to empower women and other marginalized participants in social economies of dried fish.
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