The Sea

As this issue of Yemaya goes to press, oil from the BP drill in the US Gulf of Mexico is still spilling out uncontrollably, destroying marine life and habitat at an unprecedented scale. The full environmental, social and economic implications of the oil spill are still to be fully grasped. The spill is a grave reminder of the numerous threats facing fi sheries and fi shing communities today. The commercial exploitation of seas, the pressures of overfi shing, technological changes in fi sheries, competition over coastal spaces, pollution and the destruction of coastal habitats—fi shing communities across the world are being affected by such developments. They strike right at the heart of communities and families, impacting livelihoods, power relations, the gender division of labour as well as food security and community wellbeing. The workshop ‘Recasting the net: Defi ning a gender agenda for sustaining life and livelihoods in fi shing communities’, being organized by ICSF from 7 to 10 July 2010 in Chennai, India, will seek to understand developments of concern to fi shing communities, and their specifi c implications for women. It will also seek to share local agendas and strategies of women’s organizations in fi sheries, taking stock of achievements and obstacles, and try to defi ne an agenda and strategy for sustaining life and livelihood in fi sheries into the future. The workshop will bring together researchers, activists and fi shworker leaders—both men and women. The Chennai workshop will draw on the reports from a series of preparatory national/regional-level workshops and consultations that took place in India, Thailand, the Philippines, South Africa, Brazil, Europe and Canada (see articles in this issue as well as in Yemaya No.33). It will also draw on a detailed background study being undertaken for the workshop, based on an extensive review of literature that explores the following themes from a gender perspective: ‘work’ and changes in the sexual division of labour within fi shing communities; rights to coastal and fi sheries resources; women and fi sheries decisionmaking; fi sh trade; community livelihoods and food security; aquaculture; culture and identity; climate change and fi sheries; and organizing women in fi sheries. The picture already emerging from the preparatory workshops and the background study is nuanced and complex. Yet, there are common threads that run through. These will provide the foundation for discussions at the workshop, and for participants to defi ne a ‘shared gender agenda’ for sustaining life and livelihood in fi sheries and fi shing communities, valuing the roles and contributions of both men and women in producing food, income and social wellbeing from fi sheries. From the Editor