The Role of Women in the Fishery Industry of San Fabian, Pangasinan, Philippines

Abstract

The roles of women fisherfolk are often limited to processing and marketing only. Apart from these, other roles in the pre and actual fishing and aquaculture operation are often overlooked and unrecognized. This paper identifies other significant roles that women contribute to the value-chain of fisheries as well as their roles as wives and mothers that make the fishing community and the industry stable. Sixteen women fisherfolk from three (3) barangays in San Fabian were interviewed as key stakeholders using a questionnaire that focused on their daily work, their duties as housewives, the production costs, profits gained, their experiences and their plans for their families. These roles were classified into four (4) major sectors in the fisheries industry, namely, 1) capture fisheries, in gathering of fish and shellfish, installation of fish traps, net mending, boat managers; 2) aquaculture sector composed of fish culture, preparation of materials for fish pens, feeding of stocks; 3) processing sector composed of fish salting and drying, fish deboning and marinating; and 4) fish vending or marketing, composed of selling fresh and processed fish. From the four (4) sectors mentioned, dried fish vending and fish processing sectors were more profitable than capture fisheries and aquaculture. The aquaculture sector required less laborious operation during the feeding period, however it took longer days of culture period and higher cost of inputs such as the cost of fingerlings, cost of nets and bamboo and additional feeds, if necessary. The capture fisheries sector for the municipal fishery has its daily income guaranteed, however, it was more laborious and riskier during the fishing operation. Hence, the fish processing, dried fish vending and aquaculture operation required higher cost of capital but guarantees higher profit; while capture fisheries and fresh fish vending for retailers required less capital, daily income return but lesser profit earned. Further, each sector entailed skills that the women fisherfolk have gained through their families and the availability of resources in their environment. These factors influenced their involvement in each sector, aside from the considerations on how profitable their livelihood was. The common issues encountered by these women were low catch, difficulty in transport and marketing of their goods, unstable income source, housing and health facilities, source of capital and education privileges. Some of the government and non-government interventions were cited to address these issues. Considering the workload that women do in helping the fisheries industry prosper, they have multiple burdens. Accomplishing their added obligations as a mother to their children and as wife to their husbands make the work of these women fisherfolk very necessary and noteworthy to the fishing industry through their unpaid work. These roles and their involvements in each sector will help to identify proper interventions, to help build a more empowered workforce in the fisheries trade and make them good managers of the aquatic resources of their localities.