Huriye Goncuoglu and V. Unal published the results of studies on Fisherwomen in the Turkish fishery, southern Aegean Sea in the Journal of Applied Ichthyology, Vol. 27, p 1013–1018, August 2011. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1439-0426.2011.01721.x)

Lacking official records on the active involvement of women in Turkish fisheries and acknowledgement of their participation, this study set out to validate their involvement and learn more about the status of women in local fisheries in the southern Aegean Sea region of Turkey. The study collected data from on-site surveys and interviews with fisherwomen living in the southern Aegean region of Turkey. Even finding the women was difficult because of the lack of official records. The “snowball” sampling method was used and 96 fisherwomen were interviewed. In the entire southern Aegean region only ten women were members of a cooperative, although many more fish on boats with gillnets and longlines. Although fisherwomen truly fulfill all functions that the profession requires (both pre- and post-harvest phases),  the study demonstrates that they are ignored in pertinent policies.

Thanks to Cornelie Quist for drawing to our attention this paper on fisherwomen in a little studied area and to the authors for their paper which adds to the growing knowledge that is shining a light on gender roles and contributions in fisheries and aquaculture.

Author: Huriye Gonncuoglu, Faculty of Fisheries, Ege University, TR-35100, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey. E-mail: huriyegoncuoglu@gmail.com

This entry was posted in: Freshwater Fisheries, Marine Fisheries, Women