From the Editor
Dear Friends,
Greetings from ICSF!
In this issue of Yemaya we bring you articles from Africa, Latin America and Canada on ongoing organizational processes related to women in the fisheries sector. The articles indicate how women fishworkers are organizing politically, as processors and traders and as members of fishing communities concerned about the economic, cultural and social sustainability of their communities.
We carry a report of the Workshop on Problems and Prospects for Developing Artisanal Fish Trade in West Africa and the West African Fair for Artisanally Processed Fish held in Dakar, Senegal between 30 May and 3 June 2001. These events served to draw the attention of policy-makers and the general public to the economic, social and cultural importance of artisanal fish processing and trading activities in the West African region. We carry too the statement from the workshop. Women processors and traders at the workshop committed themselves to working together to create their own networks at different levels.
We have two articles from Latin Americafrom Chile and Peruin this issue. Both of them describe processes that have been initiated to create spaces for women of fishing communities within the fishworker organizations of these countries. These efforts are still at their initial stages and consolidating women’s spaces within these organizations in a meaningful way will indeed be a challenge.
From Canada we have a report of a meeting to mark the first anniversary of the Workshop on Gender, Globalization and Fisheries held in Newfoundland, Canada in May 2000 (See special issue of Yemaya, August 2000). That the network of women fishworkers and researchers from Canada formed at the workshop continues to be active is indeed positive. Donna Lewis writes: The energy and enthusiasm witnessed last May has not diminished. I am proud to be a part of this project and to witness the inspiration it provides to the smaller, more remote communities, mine included, in our country.
For the first time we have reproduced an article from another newsletter, Coastal Community News, brought out by the Coastal Community Network, Nova Scotia, Canada, not least because the article captures well the frustration many women fishworkers and their supporters face when trying to put gender on the fisheries agenda.
We look forward to your comments, suggestions and contributions to future issues of Yemaya. The next issue of Yemaya will be in December 2001, and please try and send us your write-ups. by mid-November.
