From the Editor
Greetings! We are happy to bring to you the third issue of Yemaya, the first in the year 2000!
The effort continues to develop Yemaya as a medium which maintains’ links between women and men of fishing communities, fishworker organizations and NGOs/researchers working in different countries with small-scale fishworkers. Through Yemaya, the hope is that people from different countries will be able to follow important movements and initiatives relevant to fishworkers, especially women, elsewhereand who can, therefore, be part of the work within their own context as part of this larger consciousness.
To make Yemaya accessible to a larger set of people, especially to people of fishing communities, its distribution is not being restricted to the electronic media. It is also being produced in three languagesEnglish, French and Spanish. However, as we are all aware, people of fishing communities in different parts of the world communicate in a diversity of languages. For a genuine engagement’ by people of fishing communities with Yemaya, much of the initiative will have to be taken by supporters at the local level in helping translate and making accessible the information contained in the publication, and in communicating back. It appears that, to some extent, this is happening (see, for instance, the message from Brazil on last page).
There has been some feedback on the second issue of Yemaya, and we carry some of our readers’comments on the last page. There have also been some suggestions, which we could take on board. Cornelie Quist, a member of ICSF from the Netherlands, for example, has suggested that Yemaya could carry debates on relevant themes. We invite suggestions for such debates.
This issue carries write-ups from eight countries around the world, each unique, each thought-provoking. The write-up from Sri Lanka, for example, speaks of the destructive impact of the use of dynamite on traditional fishing communities and on their resource base. It also clearly brings out that women of fishing communities are affected by developments at sea, and are dynamic actors in protesting against such developments, along with their men folk. A similar message is evident from the write-up on France, where women of French coastal communities have taken on important political roles in influencing European fisheries policies to take into account the concerns of coastal fishing communities. These examples speak for themselves. They have much to say to those who contend that since women do not fish, they have no place in discussions on fisheries management. These, and the other articles in this issue, reinforce the central role of women in coastal fishing communities.
The next issue of Yemaya will be in July 2000. Please do send in write-ups and share your experience and views.
