EMPOWERING YOUNG WOMEN FOR SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND BLACK SEA

Empowering young women for sustainable aquaculture in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) organised a training on sustainable aquaculture practices for young women from Mediterranean and Black Sea countries to encourage them to take leadership roles in the aquaculture sector.

A seven-day training took 21 participants from 16 countries across Tunisia on a tour of some of the country’s most successful and innovative aquaculture farms. The training was introduced by Maria Damanaki, former European Union Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, and included expert presentations, hands-on feeding and harvesting of fish, washing and repairing of nets and snorkelling to observe and identify aquatic species. Organised within the framework of the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022), proclaimed by the United Nations to raise global awareness of the sector, the training shined a spotlight on small-scale aquaculture farms and their role in food security and sustainability.

The young women selected for the training from among 150 applicants joined GFCM staff and experts from the National Institute of Marine Science and Technology of Tunisia, as well from non-governmental organisations and private sector entities working with small-scale aquaculture farms. The training strove to equip young women with new knowledge and skills to support their full and effective participation and leadership at all levels of decision-making in the aquaculture sector. Properly recognising the important role played by women in the industry is among the priorities of the GFCM 2030 Strategy for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, which aims to build an equitable and inclusive fisheries and aquaculture sector.

“Women play a vital role in fisheries and aquaculture all the way along the value chain. They rear and process fish, stock ponds and perform research, helping to support food security across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. We have to support women in gaining knowledge and progressing in this sector” said Houssam Hamza, GFCM Aquaculture Officer.

Though women account for a large part of the region’s aquaculture workforce (reaching 26 percent in some countries), their contributions are not reflected in the gender balance of leadership roles. The GFCM is helping to ensure women’s voices are heard by providing them with a strong basis for advancing in the field and empowering them in decision-making processes.

Among the aquaculture farms visited during the training, those in Monastir Bay and the Kuriat Islands offered participants the chance to observe how local aquaculture practices must be carefully balanced with the surrounding ecosystem – one of the most biodiverse in the Mediterranean and an important nesting site for loggerhead sea turtles and posidonia meadows – as well as with other blue economy activities, such as tourism. At the Biben Lagoon, 15 km from the Libyan border, the participants learned about sponge culture and extensive aquaculture harvesting and participated in farming activities. In the area of Gabès, the topic of the field trip was desert aquaculture and its opportunities for small-scale producers to integrate tilapia and spirulina aquaculture into the agriculture system. The final day of the training included a trip to the Bizerte Lagoon, where the potential of the burgeoning seaweed and shellfish farming industries is on full display.

“The best investment is in yourself. You always need to learn, develop and discover something new for yourself. These courses offer the opportunity to open new doors in aquaculture and beyond. It is important to have more women in the sector, because women can realize the full potential of aquaculture,” said Tamara Dombrovska, a training participant from Ukraine.