Assessment of women's contribution in small-scale fisheries in Indian Sundarbans: Issues, strategies, and way forward for sustainability

In five islands of Indian Sundarbans, issues were identified related to women fishers associated with small-scale fisheries (SSF) and strategies were formulated to address them in the context of “Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries” formulated by FAO being followed by signatory nations. Women were actively involved in different fisheries-related sectors for earning their livelihoods. Despite the significant contribution of women in livelihood and nutritional security, their roles are often unrecognized leading to unfair distribution of benefits between men and women. The strategic and practical gender constraints were identified; “lack of awareness and low social participation” was the major factor as perceived by women fishers with the highest score (86.06). It was identified that gender-sensitive extension approaches, training methodologies, and region-specific appropriate technologies are to be applied to uplift the women members of the fishers' community associated with SSF. The aforesaid findings may be considered as precursors for formulating location-specific strategies to address the gender gap and to create gender equality in SSF that will lead to increased productivity and sustainability of SSF across the world.