Gender and small-scale fisheries in Brazil: insights for a sustainable development agenda

Abstract

The role of women in the fisheries sector is largely underestimated and underreported. Although women are a fundamental part of the seafood supply chain in Brazil, fisheries management is gender-biased; sectoral programs and policies fail to recognize, support, and guarantee fisherwomen legal and labor rights. Brazilian fisherwomen have been very active in claiming their rights and recognition in the fisheries sector; however, public policies are lagging, and so are the studies that subsidize them. Within the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and 2030 Agenda, it is critical to analyze the interactions between SDG 14 (Life below water) and SDG 5 (Gender equality) to discuss the gender dimensions underpinning fisheries (un)sustainability. We performed a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of gender-oriented studies in marine fisheries in Brazil. We identified 19 studies, published up to December 2020, focused on artisanal fisheries. The publications show that women are present in fisheries and are fundamental subjects to maintaining the activity and continuity of this livelihood. However, fisherwomen remain invisible. Their work is underreported, underpaid, and undervalued, which jeopardizes the sustainability of artisanal marine fisheries. Considering the knowledge gaps to be addressed during the Ocean Decade, we recommend that researchers and politicians work to: make "hidden workforce" of women visible, embrace interdisciplinarity, set research priorities, fill the data gap, and subsidize public policies. During the next few years, it is critical to enable and settle monitoring and assessment programs that provide open access to data, information, and technologies for the predictability, the sustainable harvesting of the ocean, and the correct design of gender-sensitive fisheries and aquaculture policies.