Due to the migratory nature of fisherfolk and the seasonal nature of fishing, banks are unwilling to lend money. Yet, when EJF’s Communities for Fisheries project began looking to set up other CMAs across the country, the team found that finance was a major barrier for women in fishing communities, preventing them from having their voices heard. The first of these was set up in Robertsport, and has brought a reduction in illegal fishing and an increase in catches. We can work together to give them a voice so that they can also play an equal role in the management of the fish resources.”Īn important route for such engagement is what are known as Collaborative Management Associations (CMAs) – these give fishing communities co-control over territorial use rights, as well as greater input on issues from landing areas to permitted catches. I will champion the cause into setting into cooperatives where they can be visible and they can be in an organised structure. “I take as an opportunity given to me to increase the visibility of fishmongers – women that have been working in the fishery sector that have been marginalised, that have been side-lined. “It's challenging being a woman working in the fishery sector,” says Emma Metieh-Glassco, Director-General of Liberia’s National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority. And that means hearing all voices equally – including the women who make up more than half the fisheries workforce in their roles as fishmongers, processors and in some cases, canoe owners. To safeguard Liberian fisheries from illegal fishing, a clear path to good management for healthy seas is needed.
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