Opportunities for gender equality in fisheries and coastal resource management in South and Southeast Asia

The document identifies how social norms, political processes, and economic shifts marginalize women in the fisheries sector of South and Southeast Asia. It highlights the invisibility of women's labor, their exclusion from decision-making, and the negative impacts of industrialized fishing on small-scale producers. The briefing proposes five regional pathways for transformation, including increasing gender awareness, providing analysis training, improving women's agency, combating violence, and breaking policy siloes.

• Women's contributions to fisheries are frequently undervalued and invisible because they primarily operate in post-harvest stages, which are often viewed as extensions of domestic and care-giving duties. This division of labor is influenced by social and religious norms regarding physical abilities and is further complicated by ethnicity, caste, class, and nationality.
• Women's participation in public and technical decision-making regarding coastal resource management is negligible. This exclusion is driven by patriarchal norms, the heavy burden of care-giving roles, domestic violence, and limited education, which collectively hinder women's ability to contribute to public debates, including those on climate change adaptation.
• Political and economic developments, such as the rise of industrialized fishing and transnational investment, often exacerbate gender inequalities. Industrialized fishing can displace small-scale fisheries, and the resulting economic stress frequently increases the care-giving burden on women, who must compensate for dwindling harvests.
• Despite making up nearly half of the labor force in developing countries, women's work in fisheries is often undocumented and ignored by policymakers. Policy focus typically prioritizes primary fish production over the processing and marketing stages where women are most active and where earnings and well-being are often lowest.
• Current gender mainstreaming in the region's coastal and fisheries sectors is insufficient, fragmented, and often sidelined by technical or economic priorities. While some intergovernmental mechanisms and organizations like the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia Pacific and SEAFDEC are making progress, the application of integrated coastal management (ICM) remains limited in Asia.

APA

Torre, A. R., Nightingale, M., Kaewnuratchadasorn, P., Sornkliang, J., Clissold, R., & Mortensen, S. (2019). Opportunities for gender equality in fisheries and coastal resource management in South and Southeast Asia. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/opp-gender-equality-in-fisheries-south-southeast-asia.pdf

Chicago

Torre, Andreea Raluca, Maeve Nightingale, Pattaratjiit Kaewnuratchadasorn, Jariya Sornkliang, Rachel Clissold, and Sofie Mortensen. Opportunities for gender equality in fisheries and coastal resource management in South and Southeast Asia. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2019. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/opp-gender-equality-in-fisheries-south-southeast-asia.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Torre |first1=Andreea Raluca |last2=Nightingale |first2=Maeve |last3=Kaewnuratchadasorn |first3=Pattaratjiit |last4=Sornkliang |first4=Jariya |last5=Clissold |first5=Rachel |last6=Mortensen |first6=Sofie |title=Opportunities for gender equality in fisheries and coastal resource management in South and Southeast Asia |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=January 2019 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/opp-gender-equality-in-fisheries-south-southeast-asia.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{torre2019opportunities, author = {Torre, Andreea Raluca and Nightingale, Maeve and Kaewnuratchadasorn, Pattaratjiit and Sornkliang, Jariya and Clissold, Rachel and Mortensen, Sofie}, title = {{Opportunities for gender equality in fisheries and coastal resource management in South and Southeast Asia}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2019}, month = jan, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/opp-gender-equality-in-fisheries-south-southeast-asia.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }