A vision at sea: women in fisheries in the Azores Islands, Portugal

Abstract

A growing body of critical social-scientific scholarship addresses the implications of marine spatial planning for those who depend on the ocean for their livelihood, sustenance, well-being and cultural survival. Of particular concern are planning initiatives that construct marine space in ways that negate or contradict its particular materiality, the latter holding great significance for how different actors relate to the ocean. In response, scholars are turning towards relational conceptualisations of marine space, focusing on the relationships between human and non-human actors, as well as the factors that mediate them. Here, we argue that legal geography, a strand of interdisciplinary research that explores how space, law and society are co-constituted, can make a valuable contribution to this discussion. In taking seriously the connections between the themes law as discourse, law as representation and law as power, legal geography offers a deeper understanding of the subjectivities, narratives and sources of normativity made in/visible by the legal dimensions of planning frameworks. Using the legal-geographical concept of spatial justice as our frame of reference, we posit that the relational materiality of the ocean lends itself to the socio-legal construction of marine spaces as 'commons', i.e. as pluralist spaces where different knowledges and ways of being coexist and intermingle, and where well-being is perceived in composite, socio-natural terms. This allows us to problematise marine spatial planning, along with its normative, regulatory and institutional underpinnings, as a vehicle for the enclosure of not only marine spaces but also spaces of decision-making.

Women’s experiences in influencing and shaping small‐scale fisheries governance

“…They participated in these associations in various capacities and played different roles within them – from attending meetings to performing active leadership roles. Notably, literature mentioned nine cases of all‐women community groups – Jamsuhoe women divers’ groups in Jeju, South Korea (Kim, 2003; Ko et al, 2010); fisherwomen's associations in Portugal (Neilson et al, 2019), Finland (Salmi & Sonck‐Rautio, 2018), northern Norway (Gerrard, 1995) and France (Gustavsson et al, 2021); Amasan women diving groups (Lim et al, 2012) and entrepreneurial groups in Japan (Soejima & Frangoudes, 2019); fisherwomen in Ngazidja, Comoros (Hauzer et al, 2013); and the seaweed gatherers union in Coliumo, Chile (Gallardo‐Fernández & Saunders, 2018). These associations operated at local and sub‐national levels (e.g.…”

“…For example, women's new and influential positions as respectable leaders and entrepreneurs in Mexico's Mercado del Mar wholesale fish market garnered recognition while improving their legitimacy (Pedroza‐Gutiérrez, 2019). In Arezos Islands, Portugal, fisherwomen's self‐organization into associations enabled them gain place within the community while also garnering the attention of state, non‐profit initiatives and the researchers interested in studying or supporting the local efforts (Neilson et al, 2019).…”

“…Table 4 highlights They participated in these associations in various capacities and played different roles within them -from attending meetings to performing active leadership roles. Notably, literature mentioned nine cases of all-women community groups -Jamsuhoe women divers' groups in Jeju, South Korea (Kim, 2003;Ko et al, 2010); fisherwomen's associations in Portugal (Neilson et al, 2019), Finland (Salmi & Sonck-Rautio, 2018), northern Norway (Gerrard, 1995) and France (Gustavsson et al, 2021); Amasan women diving groups (Lim et al, 2012) and entrepreneurial groups in Japan (Soejima & Frangoudes, 2019); fisherwomen in Ngazidja, Comoros (Hauzer et al, 2013); Zanzibar (Crawford et al, 2010) and the shellfish fishery in Galicia (Frangoudes et al, 2008), which was designed to involve women by providing them with exclusive user rights and permits to sell their harvests. Certain other co-management initiatives discussed in the literature were initiated at the community level with the support of non-profit organizations and universities.…”

“…In Arezos Islands, Portugal, fisherwomen's self-organization into associations enabled them gain place within the community while also garnering the attention of state, non-profit initiatives and the researchers interested in studying or supporting the local efforts (Neilson et al, 2019).…”

Multidimensional Indicators to Assess the Sustainability of Demersal Small-Scale Fishery in the Azores

“…The Co-Management component score was low mainly due to the Gender dimension, which scored the lowest. Women have always had a role in the Azorean fishery, but their work has been undervalued for years, especially because working in a fishery is considered a man's job [93]. This is a global concept, and both DC and the T10 scored very low for this dimension.…”