This 43rd edition of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin has 15 original articles from the Pacific region covering a range of topics.
Conservation International is continuing to build capacity in the region for considering, assessing and addressing human rights in the Pacific tuna sector. I want to do a shout out to Jyanti Singh who always makes time to write an article to keep us all updated of Conservation International’s investments in this space ‒ there is much to learn. Complementing this work is a summary of a desktop and a research framework published by SPC to start to understand and address gender-based violence in fisheries and aquaculture in the Pacific. Sarah Harper led a global paper that was a call to action for policymakers and practitioners on the need to pivot towards designing gender-inclusive data systems in small-scale fisheries. Sarah and I provide a summary of the paper and argue that data gaps conceal women’s contributions and impede actions that would strengthen livelihoods and economic development, food security, and environmental sustainability, requiring the creation of an enabling institutional environment. SPC has a great podcast series on gender equity and social inclusion.
Alice Rore wrote a compelling piece on women’s strength as a value-based heritage for adapting to declining seafood resources in the Solomon Islands. I am delighted to share an article written by an inspiring group of students from Solomon Islands National University on how they are turning classroom knowledge into action. They share their personal reflections on conducting community and ecological surveys of mangrove habitat.
Finally, we welcome several new lead authors to the bulletin – Gina Houng-Lee, Sangita Maharaj, Sheridan Rabbitt, Jude Rawaetorea, Alice Clara Rore, Kimberly Samson and Melody Vunukon. I am grateful to Kimberly Samson who has just joined the Talanoa Consulting team and is helping me find and support Pacific Island authors and allies to write and share their stories.
Sangeeta Mangubhai
