Abstract

Female involvement in the small-scale fishing industry is known to contribute to the sector. However, whatever role they play along the value chain and how much is contributed is continually overlooked or not statistically considered. This paper looks at women in the fishing industry in Southeast Trinidad from Guayaguayre to Ortoire and the roles in which they play along the small-scale fisheries value chain of production. By asking questions which focuses on the activities that are carried out by the women in that area, the benefits of the women’s involvement are shown and provides a picture of what occurs in Southeast Trinidad. It also investigates the formation of the only women’s fishing group and how it evolved. To be able to understand the significance of their contributions, questionnaires and interviews were carried out among the fisher folks, fisheries officers, and researchers. This research found that there are activities that involved women, which are not statistically considered. The benefits of having women involved in post-harvest activities, can be seen as very important, where they are more likely to be vendors and processors. The key findings obtained were acquiring skillsets, limited resources/cost of resources, the importance of an association and cultural stigma. Gender based data is not considered in capturing of data by both fisheries officers and researchers. Finally, it was researched how the pandemic affected the fisher folk. These are important findings as it not only provides answers for the study’s aim, but also shows a broader picture of what has taken place in this specific industry.

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