In fisheries, 47 million women and an unknown number in aquaculture make up nearly half of the workers in production, processing, trading, and marketing (FAO et al., 2023). Despite major contributions, women are frequently not recognised and supported, do not have a voice in setting sectoral directions and lack control over their own work needs. Historical biases against women still operate in the workplace and community, affecting household food and financial security, and women’s physical safety and well-being. From the 1980s, researchers began investigating why gender matters and how to improve gender equality in fisheries and aquaculture (GAFS, 2018). Collectively we have almost nine decades of experience as gender researchers, gender champions, managers and leaders, including in aquaculture and fisheries (GAF) . Our professional lives have intersected, along with those of hundreds of other colleagues, through the creation and work of the Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section (GAFS) of the Asian Fisheries Society (AFS). People are drawn into GAF work from four main backgrounds. Many are fisheries and aquaculture researchers who find discover that gender blindness is a problem to redress arising when gender differences are ignored, e.g., in fish value chain employment, or when contributions by one gender are considered important but not that by others, e.g., in fishing and fish processing.