SEAFDEC Training Department (SEAFDEC/TD) in partnership with Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) organized the regional “Women in Fisheries Workshop” from 14 to 16 May 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. This Workshop is an activity under Australia’s Combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and Promoting Sustainable Fisheries in Southeast Asia program. The Program is a five-year initiative that aims to strengthen the capacity of RPOA-IUU and ASEAN countries to combat IUU fishing, foster greater regional collaboration, and promote gender inclusion in fisheries related Monitoring Control and Surveillance (MCS).
The Women in Fisheries Workshop aimed to strengthen regional cooperation by exploring the concept of a voluntary regional network of women fisheries officers, identify challenges and barriers faced by women fisheries officers in the region and practical opportunities for shifting gender norms within the sector in the short to medium term, boost the status and confidence of women in the fisheries MCS sector across the region by providing a platform to share their expertise and stories; and encourage male champions for gender equality in the sector who can actively support and promote gender inclusion in spaces where women are not well represented. There were 66 participants (10 males and 56 females) who are fisheries officers and engaged in MCS implementation from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Vietnam, SEAFDEC, DAFF, Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) through observer from, RPOA-IUU Secretariat and Nha Trang University attended in the Workshop. The design of further activities to strengthen gender inclusivity in fisheries MCS was the main expected output of the Workshop.
