Abstract
Abstract
Collective action and the diversity of forms it may take in fisherfolk organizing is complex. Efforts to implement the 2014 Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) have resulted in increasing global to local attention on fisherfolk organizations, their strengthening and governance. These include women’s roles and participation in them, both as members and as leaders. There is limited literature on women in fisherfolk organizations in Barbados. Women in the flyingfish postharvest sector are conspicuous, but how some work through their fisherfolk organization is undocumented. The Central Fish Processors Association (CFPA) formed to address challenges small fish processors were experiencing in their livelihoods. Through group interviews and document analysis, benefits to the women from participation in this all-woman organization, and the challenges they face, were explored by examining the links between collective action, organization and gender. We document the collective action of these women in preparing to make practical interventions for improvements to their working and domestic lives. It is the first research focused on organized women in the Barbados flyingfish fishery, deviating from the typical focus on men in its harvest sector.
Introduction
Working together in small-scale fisheries, whether through formal organization or informal collective action, has been posited as essential for addressing marginalization, empowering disadvantaged groups and eradicating poverty (Jentoft et al., 2018). These authors note that achieving the agency to accomplish these changes is challenging in weak organizations and in groups characterized by conflict. The power asymmetries and inequities that accompany gender relations in Caribbean fisheries, and the means women, in particular, use to overcome these obstacles, provide gendered insight into the dynamics of organization-building and collective action.
Gender in fisheries
Gender in fisheries management, conservation and development, has not been given high priority in the Caribbean (Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism [CRFM], 2018a). Persistent data and knowledge gaps on gender in small-scale fisheries, and the lack of sex-disaggregated data and information useful for assessing and comparing the differing roles and socioeconomic contributions of women and men, contribute to small-scale fisheries being poorly documented and understood. This is so despite the existence in some countries of national gender action plans (e.g., Division of Gender and Family Affairs [DoGFA], 2014; Mohammed, 2006) and national fisheries policies (e.g., Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Fisheries Division [MOAL], 2008). However, the inclusion of gender equality and equity as guiding principles in the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) led by FAO, has prompted renewed attempts to mainstream gender in Caribbean fisherfolk organizations and collective action (Gender in Fisheries Team [GIFT], 2018).
Collective action and organizing
Fisherfolk organizations are as diverse, complex, dynamic, and possibly contentious, as the fisheries to which they are linked. Institutional arrangements among individuals and groups of stakeholders in fisheries range from formal to informal organizations of collective action and cooperation, to those imbued with conflict (Alonso-Población & Siar, 2018; Jentoft & Chuenpagdee, 2009; McConney, 2007). Collective action – ‘people banding together to pursue a common cause’ (McConney, 2007, p. 6) - occurs in the fisheries sector to defend shared interests, to deal with threats of fisheries management, to secure rights and benefits for the industry, or simply to catch or sell fish (Alonso-Población & Siar, 2018; Jentoft & Chuenpagdee, 2009; McConney, 2007; Siar & Kalikoski, 2016); it really is about groups of people organizing themselves for enhanced cooperation and management of conflict. ‘Incentives to organize can include all of the elements that contribute to a better life, provided that the benefits outweigh the costs at the level of both the individual and the group’ (McConney, 2007, p. 5). Siar and Kalikoski (2016) note ‘formal and informal fisheries organizations provide a platform for stakeholders to exercise their right to organize, participate in the development and decision-making processes, access markets, financial services, and infrastructure, and influence fisheries management outcomes’ (p. iv).
Efforts to implement the SSF Guidelines have resulted in increasing global and local attention to fisherfolk organizations, their strengthening and governance, and women’s roles and participation in them both as members and leaders (McConney, Simmons, Nicholls, & Pereira Medeiros, 2017). Women, however, are scarce in fisherfolk organizations globally. In the Caribbean there is limited literature on women in fisherfolk organizations and collective action (GIFT, 2018). Neither women’s participation in formal fisherfolk organizations nor women’s informal collective action in fisheries have been adequately investigated. Following Jentoft et al. (2018) we examine links between collective action, organization and gender. These authors state that: ‘Collective action for the realization of a common goal by means of an organization requires the creation of awareness. Members must believe in their own collective potential and that the goal is within reach. The higher the expectation and the stronger the identification, the easier the task. A committed and loyal membership is an asset for any organization’ (Jentoft et al., 2018, p. 6). Hence, for the case study, after addressing the poverty context, we posed the research questions: What drives members to maintain their commitment to each other and the organization for collective action in the face of adversity? In what ways does the organization deliver benefits to its members as incentives to act collectively?
The development of the CFPA
This study aims to fill the above-mentioned knowledge gaps through an exploratory case study on women formally organizing themselves in the Barbados flyingfish fishery. It investigates the emergence and performance of the Central Fish Processors Association (CFPA). It is the only all-women, and the only postharvest, fisherfolk organization in Barbados. Established in 2005, the CFPA mainly processes the fourwing flyingfish (Hirundichthys affinis). This species comprises over 50% of the total national annual fish landings, and the postharvest portion of its value chain has typically been primarily women’s work. Unable to voice their concerns about challenges small-scale processors were experiencing with their work at the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex (BFC) - refrigeration facilities, sanitation procedures, working hours and market management communication - a group of approximately 20 women were the initial members of the CFPA with a woman as leader. Today the association has 26 women members and no men have expressed sustained interest to join (Pena et al., 2018). Encouragement for the formation of the CFPA came from the Deputy Chief Fisheries Officer (a woman). She inspired the women to collectively lobby for changes to their work environment. Membership of the CFPA ‘is open to any fisherfolk residing in the area of operation without restriction to race, sex or religion’ (Central Fish Processors Association [CFPA], 2005, p. 2).
The motto of the association is ‘Uniting fisherfolk for positive development’ and it has one core objective, ‘…to fulfill the socioeconomic and cultural requirements of the members, to promote the saving and thrift habit and mutual interdependence’ (CFPA, 2005, p. 1). Despite not being established under law (as is the case with most fisherfolk associations to reduce costs and increase flexibility), there is a high level of participation in CFPA activities, especially in times of crisis. Both regular meetings and ad hoc or ‘spot’ meetings have proven partially successful at tackling problems and developing the CFPA, but more could perhaps be done.
This paper aims to examine the benefits of women’s collective action through the case of their fisherfolk organization in the Caribbean. It documents why and how women united in the postharvest sector of the Barbados flyingfish fishery. The circumstances and factors that cultivate and nurture, as well as challenge and frustrate, collective action within this group are revealed. This includes investigating good practices in women’s organizational leadership for gender mainstreaming through implementation of the SSF Guidelines.
The introduction set the context for gender analysis in Caribbean fisheries and provided an overview of collective action involving women and organizing while chronicling the origins of the CFPA, our case. In the methodology we set out the analytical framework and participatory methods used. A situation summary derived from secondary sources and scoping provides the context for the results and discussion. The conclusions complete the paper with ideas on how mainstreaming gender can be strengthened through organization-building and collective action.
Methodology
Conceptual underpinnings
The methodology applied to the small-scale fisheries case studies of Jentoft et al. (2018) is useful for ours. These authors link poverty, collective action and organizing within the context of social-ecological system resilience. First, they recognize that poverty is multidimensional, such that power disparities and lack of voice may be more critical in some cases than low income and poor nutrition as the main metrics. This perspective is key to gender analysis. Second, they recommend detailed and situation specific investigation of the factors that enable and constrain collective action, including how these change over time in a dynamic fisheries system. Again, this is crucial in small-scale tropical marine fisheries in which seasonality, labor mobility, climate variability and change, plus other factors, all function as variables that determine if, how, when, where and with whom collective action takes place. Third, they focus on organization-building and consider how it starts, the consequences of the emerging new institutional interactions, and the challenges posed by gender inequalities in both the process and product. The factors in this third component of their framework are of major significance to our case study on women self-organizing in the Barbados flyingfish fishery. Jentoft et al. (2018) conclude that heuristic frameworks like theirs, which may be combined with participatory action research, provide opportunities for deeper understanding of gender and collaboration in small-scale fisheries from perspectives within the industry rather than solely those imposed by researchers. This stance is reflected in the methods used in our case.
The Center for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) led Gender in Fisheries Team (GIFT) at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, has been engaging the CFPA in participatory action research on gender since 2017 to assist the group in finding solutions to its problems. GIFT is conducting action research to obtain a good understanding of CFPA problems to determine what the women envision as practical solutions to enhance their fisheries occupation and domestic life (Pena et al., 2018). This research is framed conceptually in terms of livelihood and institutional analyses and adaptive capacity – the three linked research frameworks of GIFT (GIFT, 2018). The president of the CFPA had participated in research on women in fisheries (McConney, Nicholls, & Simmons, 2013) and on fisherfolk organizations in Barbados (McConney et al., 2017). The former involved livelihood analysis of successful women fish vendors and other women at a fish market in Barbados to obtain a better understanding of how society, culture, formal and informal education, household arrangements and entrepreneurship combined with other factors to shape the involvement of women in fisheries. Using an integrated framework for analyzing aspects of governance, livelihoods and organizational resilience, the work on fisherfolk organizations in Barbados, investigated the national umbrella fisherfolk organization, the Barbados National Union of Fisherfolk Organizations (BARNUFO).
CFPA’s willingness to participate, our appreciation that its organizational problems may be ‘wicked’ (Jentoft & Chuenpagdee, 2009), and its members’ awareness of the SSF Guidelines (FAO, 2015) made the organization our first choice as a suitable case for applying the analytical framework. The CFPA is also representative of the preferred form of organization – an association - and typical of the genesis of collective action (established out of crisis or adversity and spontaneity) exhibited within the fisheries sector in Barbados (Kurien, 2013; McConney, 2007; McConney & Medeiros, 2014). Building on the above, GIFT worked on this research with the CFPA in 2018.
The documentation of, and research on, collective action and fisherfolk organizations in small-scale fisheries in many parts of the world including Latin America, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific is more detailed and broader in scope than it is in the Caribbean. While Kurien’s (2013) global reflections on collective action and organizations included examples from these regions, the Caribbean was notably absent. The documentation and study of fisherfolk organizing in the Caribbean, not to mention, country-specific cases such as those in Barbados, are sparse (examples include CRFM, 2004, 2007a, 2007b, 2007c, 2007d, 2007e; Grant, 2004; Mahon, Blackman, Lee, & McConney, 2010; McConney, 1999, 2001, 2007; McConney, Atapattu, & Leslie, 2000; McConney et al., 2013, 2017; McConney & Medeiros, 2014; McConney, Nicholls, & Simmons, 2011; McConney & Phillips, 2011; McIntosh et al., 2010; Tabet 2009). Therefore, this case is important as it adds to the limited information on fisherfolk organization-building in the region, and globally.
Field methods
The first component of this research, the poverty perspective, had recently been examined in another Barbados fisherfolk organization by McConney et al. (2017), so this research sought mainly to validate that those findings were applicable to the CFPA. The second and third components of collective action and organization-building were combined into an integrated analysis since early scoping revealed that the industry participants made little distinction between the two concepts. Gender was the cross-cutting core theme of the analysis throughout. The two research questions were broken down into their sub-components and we interacted with the women to better understand:
How their personal feelings about the CFPA shape and re-shape collective action
Their reasons for joining the association and how these aided organization-building
The benefits derived from being a member of the CFPA along its developmental path
The main successes of the CFPA that serve to retain organizational collective action
The main problems of the organization and the feasibility of collaborative solutions
Their vision for the CFPA in the next five years to guide further organization-building
The level of respect from men in the industry for women’s participation in the CFPA
This was the first research focused specifically on women organizing in the Barbados flyingfish fishery, deviating from the typical focus on men in its harvest sector. Consequently, it was designed to be exploratory in order to avoid imposing assumptions on responses. Information on sub-regional fisheries socioeconomics relevant to the flyingfish fishery was obtained from reviewing literature and interviewing key informants. This sets the context for the CFPA case of national gender and organizational market analysis. Two main qualitative methods were used to gather information on the CFPA: group interviews and document analysis. These were employed first in scoping the situation to provide context, and later to go deeper into the analysis of the organization.
Document analysis involved the review of CFPA files containing meeting agendas and notes, constitutional papers, membership records, official correspondence, etc. CFPA documents are primarily stored as hard copies. GIFT was allowed to borrow files to scan electronically and review. No specialized software was used for document analysis to detect patterns in content, but notes were made by the lead author to facilitate reliability.
For the group interview, CFPA members with contact information were invited to attend an interactive group interview in September 2018 at BARNUFO. The half-day interactive session with six members comprised largely open-ended discussion of seven questions through which three GIFT facilitator-researchers aimed to get a better understanding of the points previously listed. Group exercises were used to elicit responses and make the interaction more interesting. For example, to elicit feelings about the CFPA, each individual was asked to choose three words from a list of 20 words (descriptive of the best workplaces) obtained online (; www.quantumworkplace.com) that best described how they felt positively about the CFPA (from a personal and/or livelihood or organizational functionality perspective). When the group was invited to provide additional words, this resulted in five new ones, all negative, being added. A conversation could then be had about how negative feelings could be converted into action for positive change.
Table 1. Pick-list of words to describe feelings toward the CFPA.
Individual contributions were captured on colored cards and displayed on a wall in the session room for all participants to see, and then collectively discuss similarities, differences, patterns, analysis and interpretation. The action aspect of the research included the promotion of gender awareness in this session especially in the context of the SSF Guidelines as set out in a handbook specifically on this topic (FAO, 2017).
Results
Fisheries socioeconomics and gender
In the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) region of 15 countries, fisheries contribute significantly to marine ecosystem-based livelihoods and coastal poverty alleviation (CRFM, 2018a). They provide approximately 125,000 people (mainly men) with direct full-time and part-time employment in small-scale fisheries harvest and aquaculture. An estimated 160,000 persons (often women) are employed directly and indirectly in fish processing, marketing and distribution, as well as ancillary services (boat construction and maintenance, net and gear making and repair, ice production and supply, research, development and management).1 In Barbados, about 2,200 persons are employed directly in the industry with an additional 3,800 engaged in other fisheries-related activities (CRFM, 2018b). Limited sex-disaggregated data for the Barbados postharvest fisheries sector for 2018 indicate 165 women and 110 men were employed full-time and part-time as vendors, cleaners/boners and buyers (G. Franklin, personal communication, 1 December, 2019). However, sex-disaggregated employment estimates are highly uncertain and variable due to opportunistic occupational pluralism and mobility with few barriers to entry or exit along the value chain.
In official statistics, fisheries generally contribute less to national annual GDP than tourism and most other sectors, and as a result receive less attention in policy. In 2015/2016 the percentage contribution of the fisheries sector in CARICOM ranged from 0.05% to 3.8% (CRFM, 2018b). However, the earnings assigned to the fishing industry in national accounting is based primarily on the ex-vessel value at the point of first sale, disregarding the increase in seafood value along the supply chain. Mahon, Parker, Sinckler, Willoughby, and Johnson (2007) suggested that this added value ‘should be accounted for in assigning an economic value to fisheries and in determining the appropriate investment in [fisheries] management’ (p. 88). In a preliminary assessment of the value of Barbados’ fisheries, it was estimated that additional value was about 2.6 times the landed value of the fishery (Mahon et al., 2007). This context is important as it is mainly women’s work that adds to product worth along the fisheries value chain. Therefore, when it is said that ‘for gender to become mainstreamed in fisheries, fisheries may first need to be elevated in status’ (GIFT, 2018, p. 7), this entails recognizing the value of women’s work in the postharvest sector.
Gender scoping in Caribbean fisheries showed that, although sex-disaggregated fisheries data and information are scarce, it is clear that men dominate the harvest sector labor force while women dominate landing site fish vending and as labor in fish processing plants (GIFT, 2018; McConney, 2001). Common globally (World Bank, 2012), this inequality needs further investigation as it hides many important details. To deal with the deficiency in empirical data, McConney, Nicholls and Simmons (2013) contend that gender analyses to address the many gaps in knowledge and understanding of gender in Caribbean fisheries are needed.
Recent investigation of the Barbados fisheries value chain (Pena et al., 2019) revealed that the majority of occupations within the support (pre-harvest) and harvest segments of the fisheries value chain are male-dominated, while processing occupations are dominated by women. However, women’s and men’s participation in marketing and consumer-facing occupations in the value chain is less unequal in some jobs. Sex-specific division of labor is changing. Women are taking on nontraditional roles due to what some term a ‘new mindset’ in which women seek to depend less on men for financial security. The growing trend for young women to engage in a wider range of fisheries livelihoods has also been attributed to motivation from parents for children to expand job opportunities (Pena et al., 2019). In both the harvest and postharvest segments of the value chain, large investors are typically men, but investment by women may be underestimated. Female fisheries officers, fisherfolk leaders, researchers and NGO staff are often as common as men (McConney et al., 2013). Knowledge and understanding of the different dynamic and contributions of women and men to fisheries, their roles, power, and access to resources are incomplete, but growing.
The following results first address poverty, and then the combined analysis of collective action and organization-building (Jentoft et al., 2018) from the CFPA case study.
Poverty dimension
McConney et al. (2017) found that fisherfolk poverty in Barbados is mainly perceived as their lack of voice in economic arenas compared to other industries that contribute more to the economy according to national accounting. This perspective on poverty has not assumed a gender dimension as both women and men in both postharvest and harvest share the complaint. Poverty was not mentioned as a driver or major issue in the case of the CFPA although it was commonly said that fisherfolk livelihoods, in general, needed to be improved. Information on individual earnings and expenses was not sought as this could have jeopardized the research due to likely sensitivities and suspicion about disclosure despite any research ethics assurances.
The CFPA is a member of BARNUFO. Neither of these organizations has an action agenda that specifically identifies poverty as an issue. The stated need to improve fisherfolk livelihoods, pursued by both, is the closest proxy.
Collective action and organization-building
The following sections address the research questions, the answers to which should enable collective action and organization-building to be understood from an insider’s perspective with the potential to inductively contribute to conceptual frameworks and perhaps theory.
Profile of Central Fish Processors Association
CFPA members range in age from 31 to 71 years of age, with an average age of 53 years. The CFPA is partially a kinship-based organization, with most members having at least one immediate female relative in the organization – daughter, sister, cousin. Membership, and presumably commitment, to the CFPA has been relatively long with most women having been involved with the CFPA since its formation. Only a few members have joined within the recent past, since 2015/20162 (Pena, Cumberbatch, McConney, Selliah & Simmons, in press).
These women have invested long periods of their lives ranging from 25 to 40 years, in the fishing industry. Dependency on the fishing sector is high amongst women in the CFPA. From half to all of their income is derived directly from fish processing, selling fish, sale of fish supplies (e.g., processing equipment) and fishing during the flyingfish season (October to June). Even during the off-season (July to September), most women earn most of their money from fish sales when they sell previously stored flyingfish, other local species of fish, and some imported seafood (Pena et al., in press).
How feelings about the CFPA impact collective action
Using the exercise described in the methods, overall there is a general positive feeling about the CFPA although some negativity exists. About three times as many positive compared to negative words were used to describe their feelings. Forty percent of the listed words were chosen, with motivating being the most frequent (Figure 1).
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Figure 1. Words used to describe membership feelings toward the CFPA.
Nine words were mentioned only once by CFPA members, five of which were new and negative in connotation (47%). The choice of words was interesting with partial and division by their very meanings suggesting bias within the organization and separation or limited unity within the group; disharmonized and dysfunctional indicating incompatibility or unpleasing combination and not operating properly; and frustrating suggesting dissatisfaction, discouragement and disappointment. Challenging was eventually taken in its positive light.
Reasons for joining the CFPA and membership benefits for organization-building
The main reason offered (by five out of six persons; 83%) for joining the CFPA was that of representation for better working conditions and defending their rights in the fish market (corroborated by CFPA document analysis). It was felt that membership in the association helped to reduce the threat of losing their work-spaces in the market due to management practices that could disrupt established work groups. A dedicated work area – a fish processing hall – has made their fish processing jobs more efficient. The BFC is the largest of three landing sites in the island built to meet international standards and serve a range of users. The processing hall (located in the fish market) is a major component of the BFC where a number of small-scale processors operate from and typically employ women to process fish. The Markets Division of the government of Barbados is directly responsible for operational activities at the BFC. The managers of the Markets Division and BFC are the main decision-makers on day-to-day operational and management matters. Small-scale processors usually submitted issues directly to them for problem-solving, unless they chose to request a fisheries officer to intercede on their behalf (McConney, 1999), and this has continued to the present.
Two persons mentioned group in their explanation for joining the CFPA in terms of better functioning collectively and being better equipped to take on or lobby management of the fish market. Training has been the main shared benefit to CFPA members with five of the six persons interviewed mentioning the training opportunities they had received (e.g., food handling); also corroborated by the CFPA document analysis in which training opportunities were particularly evident in 2007 and 2010. Additional benefits included sharing ideas and opportunities to widen their field of work and collectively obtaining improved working condition in the market (Figure 2).
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07 May 2020![]({"type":"image","src":"/na101/home/literatum/publisher/tandf/journals/content/rgtd20/2020/rgtd20.v024.i01/09718524.2020.1729538/20200523/images/medium/rgtd_a_1729538_f0002_c.jpg"})
Figure 2. Reasons for joining the CFPA and benefits of membership.
Every year, BARNUFO organizes a training series during the flyingfish off-season for its member organizations to enhance their skills (both fisheries and non-fisheries related). As a result, the women in the CFPA possess high human capital3 from training in Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), advanced computer training, record keeping, first aid, navigation, safety at sea, small business and financial management that has enabled them to enhance their livelihoods. CFPA members typically take capacity building seriously and are eager to participate in these free training opportunities.
Perceived successes of the CFPA to retain organizational collective action
Each woman provided views on at least two main successes of the CFPA. Responses to this question indicate that members receive group as well as personal benefits. One personal benefit highlighted was that of improved self-confidence. Collective benefits included improved working conditions, improved personal and work area hygiene, implementation and adherence to food handling standards, improved profitability and marketability as small business persons, recognition locally and internationally, increased respect from management, and more informed members. Notable quotes from CFPA members relating to success experiences included:
‘We have become an example for the rest of the processors in terms of dress and standards’
‘We are stronger as an association to interface with management’
‘Can pool together to help everyone’
‘If it wasn’t for the benefit of collective action, [people] would step out [leave the organization]’
CFPA problems and the feasibility of collaborative solutions
It was difficult to determine from CFPA documents whether issues these women were experiencing in their working conditions were persistent (due to incomplete records). CFPA correspondence to fish market management, their meeting agendas and sparse notes showed repeated issues relevant to the fish processing hall. Some issues recurred up to six times on agendas for meetings held in 2009 and 2010. Cross-checking this information with other secondary material provided evidence that working conditions associated with the fish market have been inadequate and problematic and had been documented since the late 1990s (FAC, 2007; McConney, 1999; McConney, Mahon & Oxenford, 2003).
Such issues included seafood storage conditions, including infrequently operating cold storage, inadequate ice storage facilities, poor hygiene and overall cleanliness of the processing hall, lack of bathroom and toilet facilities, no lunchroom, the need for a service room to store processing equipment and office supplies, poor communication and non-response to problems (from market management), and damaged infrastructure. Documentation shows repeated collective action by the CFPA to approach and engage fish market management to address issues with the processing hall and discuss new operations within the facility. These included business propositions, not only complaints. The improvements in the conditions of the processing hall were the result of the persistence of this group of women to ensure the provision of satisfactory amenities and facilities for the pursuit of their livelihoods in the postharvest sector (Pena et al., in press).
In addition to issues related to working conditions, agenda items showed discussion of social protection, membership enrollment, training, and CFPA strategic planning. Training opportunities or accomplishments were often listed. Attraction and enrollment of new members seemed to increase as an issue in recent times. Complete minutes were only found for a few CFPA meetings. The President’s reports for July 2007–April 2010 and February 2009–March 2010 (handwritten) record the ‘CFPA struggling under many challenges’ but these were not elaborated on in documentation. Institutional memory was obtained from interview instead.
CFPA meetings were not held regularly between 2007 and 2010 due to low meeting attendance. The July 2007–April 2010 President’s reports indicate that ‘spot’ meetings with members were called to deal with CFPA issues. Low participation in meetings was addressed via warning letters to members with threat of expulsion as provided for in the CFPA constitution. While low attendance could be attributed to the higher personal priority of income-earning in the flyingfish season (October to June), in her 2007–2010 report, the President stressed that the CFPA is for members’ benefit and must be supported by all members. Poor participation in meetings seemed to be one of the CFPA’s persistent problems from early in its history as the minutes for a general meeting held in 2006 indicate that at least two members tried to advocate for a form of natural justice in which members who did not attend meetings (1) should not be privy to what was said or occurred in them, and (2) should not be allowed to attend CFPA activities. This further escalated to the suggestion that nonattendance should be penalized by withholding member benefits.
In the group interview, a number of interlinked CFPA problems were highlighted by the group:
Limited or poor communication particularly between the president and members (with the knock-on perceived effect of top-down decision-making; five out of 15 responses);
Biases toward certain members and lack of inclusion of others leading to a perceived lack of transparency (four out of 15 responses);
Lack of office and storage space (2 out of 15 responses);
Pettiness, general perceived non-functionality of the organization, people not caring anymore and work threats (1 out of 15 responses each).
Cliques among members within the CFPA were said to be those in the ‘know how’ of all that is happening within the association while the rest of members are on a ‘need-to-know’ or ‘need-to-show-up-to-know’ basis. They said that conflict (pettiness and personal misunderstandings) within the CFPA tends to result in members not being motivated to participate or give support to certain activities or persons. There were also tensions between the CFPA members, market management and other fish workers outside the processing hall. One example included the opening of three new spaces within the processing hall by market management to include vendors selling outside the hall. This created tension between the CFPA and management as outside vendors entered the processing hall to occupy any existing space, held or ‘tenanted’ by CFPA members. CFPA had to lobby and pressure management to ensure that the processing hall remained theirs for their exclusive use for good fish handling practices. Their organization within the CFPA helped resolve this matter (Pena et al., in press).
Despite the CFPA problems, the six women interviewed were emphatic there was still a need for the association as there are still threats. However, at times being part of the organization was said to be frustrating as not every member’s concern is heard, but just a selected few, and this impacts the solutions offered. Four of the 10 solutions offered focused on improving information exchange and communication in the CFPA, particularly from the president to the members. Additional solutions included improving member engagement and sense of belonging (two of 10 solutions), holding meetings to revitalize the CFPA and get it functioning again, acquiring a space for storage, creating a sense of teamwork and not allowing personal feelings to detract from or sabotage collective action (one each of 10 solutions).
Vision for the CFPA in the next five years to guide further organization-building
Women interviewed provided multiple vision elements for consideration, all of which can be built on in follow-up meetings to develop a vision for the CFPA as only an overarching objective guides CFPA activities. A diverse set of elements included: being (more) innovative; having a greater impact or recognition in the industry as exporters of flyingfish; as leaders for encouraging and supporting persons who wish to get into the industry; as the main negotiator for local fisherfolk; providing assistance, both financial and social, and more benefits for members; working more together with deeper trust and strength developed in each other for the greater good of the organization; and increased membership. That is, an overall organized and fully functioning organization. The top two priorities for a vision for the CFPA in the next five years were recognition to gain respect from other fisherfolk and market management, and to improve financial benefits.
Level of respect from men for women’s participation in the CFPA
When asked if their participation in the CFPA brings about greater respect from men in the fishing industry, the women noted there was respect because of who they were as individuals irrespective of being a CFPA member. ‘Men respect women because they know we work hard.’ There was some disagreement regarding receipt of respect by one member who noted that her perception is that the CFPA is recognized as the driving force at the fish market and is often told, ‘They listen to wunna [you all] down there.’ She noted, ‘this could be misconstrued as respect but really seems to be resentment because we get things done. We tell them that, we get things done because we act as an organization, we don’t go in as an individual.’
Discussion
One of the main aims of the SSF Guidelines is to eradicate poverty in fisheries, and fisherfolk organizations are seen as key to that goal (FAO, 2015). When combined with the aim of gender mainstreaming, the potential role of well-organized fisherfolk is doubly important in the SSF Guidelines (FAO, 2017). Scholars have provided a framework to link poverty, collective action and organizing with gender (Jentoft et al., 2018). This framework was applied to the case of the CFPA in the Barbados flyingfish industry through participatory action research. The results provide more insight into gender, collective action and organization than into poverty. The research respondents in Barbados did not consider themselves poor, and this is consistent with previous recent research (McConney et al., 2017). However, the remaining aspects of the research yielded considerable insight from within the CFPA. Through a set of more discrete sub-components we sought to answer the research questions: What drives members to maintain their commitment to each other and the organization for collective action in the face of adversity? In what ways does the organization deliver benefits to its members as incentives to act collectively?
Jentoft et al. (2018) emphasize that in order for fisherfolk organizations to form, function, and be sustainable, the incentives for collective action must work at the levels of both the individual and the group. Collective action cannot be sustained if group incentives are inadequate and free-riding is common. The CFPA has been in existence for 14 years - a lifespan longer than most other fisherfolk organizations in Barbados - and it appears to be holding its own as members seem to realize the greater power they wield by being part of a collective rather than as individuals in the fisheries sector. Theirs is the story of a group of women who had to organize in order to bring about change within the fish market that provided their livelihoods. It is common for collective action to be borne out of conflict and struggle, but important to understand the dynamics from the participants’ perspective (Alonso-Población & Siar, 2018). Understanding the challenges and lessons learned (from successes and failures) through the collective action and organization-building of these working women in the postharvest sector of Barbados flyingfish fishery, can contribute to documenting, informing and improving good practices in women’s leadership and participation in fisherfolk organizations as an aspect of gender mainstreaming. It follows that the successes of the CFPA should be ‘evaluated against the organization’s contribution to bridging the gender gap’ (Alonso-Población & Siar, 2018, p. 35). This could enable the group to ‘continually renew their collective aspirations’ and ‘ensure vibrancy’ of the organization (Kurien, 2013, p. 70).
Many factors nurture collective action and participation in formal and informal fisherfolk organizations. Support by state institutions is recognized globally as playing a role in promoting women’s participation in fisherfolk organizations (Alonso-Población & Siar, 2018). The critical part the Barbados Fisheries Division played in encouraging those initial 20 women to join together to participate in the CFPA must be acknowledged. State institution support and guidance for the CFPA strengthening and development has equipped fisherfolk to better understand and adopt the SSF Guidelines throughout the fisheries value chain (Pena et al., in press).
The case illustrated the importance of access to physical market space and the assets that the majority of women in the CFPA consider necessary for the pursuit of their livelihoods. Much of their collaboration concerned acquiring and defending their tenure in the space. Once there, recommendations and agitation for improvements to the processing hall advanced by the women of the CFPA were pivotal to making the facility prime real estate within the market. Representation and lobbying through the CFPA allowed the women to collectively benefit from improved personal and work area hygiene. The implementation of food handling standards led to improved product marketability and profitability as small businesspersons within the fishery value chain (Pena et al., in press). The results showed that these successes helped to sustain the CFPA despite the organizational deficiencies and internal issues that threatened fragmentation.
The CFPA functioned well enough for day-to-day problem solving, but overall governance was challenged by what members perceived as top-down decision-making, lack of transparency, an inclination to include some cliques and isolate others, and infrequent communication. Although members clearly believed in the value of the CFPA’s role within the postharvest sector of the flyingfish fishery, there was an underlying frustration regarding these governance issues that they believed needed to be addressed and warranted further investigation. The development of shared internal understanding of these issues amongst CFPA members and their willingness to seek resolution was in itself a good practice for strengthening the governance of the CFPA. It demonstrated a maturity derived from self-organization. A ‘business as usual’ approach could have resulted in the loss of members due to division and frustration. Solutions that come from within are a hallmark of fisherfolk organizational resilience to be encouraged in capacity development (Siar & Kalikoski, 2016).
Current CFPA governance issues are in part due to inadequate leadership skills that require improvement for the better functioning of the organization. ‘Leadership is required if fisherfolk organizations are to be empowered to be efficient and effective in implementing the SSF Guidelines’ (Blackman & Almerigi, 2017, p. 1). The head of the CFPA, since its inception, is strategically positioned to ensure that women in the postharvest sector of the flyingfish fishery, and indeed fisherfolk throughout the entire Barbados fisheries value chain, participate in the decision-making process in the fishing industry. She holds two other powerful positions within the fisheries sector nationally and regionally as leader of BARNUFO and the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organizations (CNFO). Women in the CFPA have benefited from her long involvement in the fishing industry and broad perspective from the other posts that she holds. It is, however, apparent that the CFPA now needs a more participative (democratic) leadership style (Blackman & Almerigi, 2017). As Kurien (2013) maintains,…‘where the governance is democratic and transparent, there will be a good flow of information on the activities, the achievements and the failures’ (p. 69) of collective action.
Organization-building has nurtured the leadership skills and individual agency to promote the organization (Alonso-Población & Siar, 2018) that resided in a number of women in the CFPA, each of whom can be of valuable assistance through succession planning to guide the group based on their knowledge and abilities. The women are confident, vocal, articulate and are evidently dedicated to the success of the organization. They strongly believe in the value of the CFPA to themselves and the industry. Some identify themselves as leaders (Alonso-Población & Siar, 2018) or founders of the CFPA, and they are eager to take on leadership roles to assist further strengthening of the association. Such leadership is needed to improve CFPA governance and overall functioning, and in turn its contribution to decision-making and policy in fisheries such as through BARNUFO and the national Fisheries Advisory Committee (Pena et al., in press).
The results suggest that greater incorporation of emerging leaders, cutting across the clique sub-structure, could increase participation in organization-building decisions and commitment to a CFPA vision from a larger cross-section of the membership. This could also enable the incorporation of more members’ concerns and interests in the operation of the CFPA, increasing the transparency and legitimacy of decisions while demonstrating the value of collective action to empower women and generate even greater support for the organization through successes. Small-scale fisheries in the region require capable and confident leaders to empower fisherfolk. Women need to be better represented in leadership roles and decision-making positions in small-scale fisheries (FAO, 2017). Those willing to take up the challenge should be encouraged to do so for the overall good of collective action (Blackman & Almerigi, 2017), as well as for improved gender equality and equity in the fisheries sector (GIFT, 2018).
Findings suggest that enhancing the capacities of individual women to expand opportunities and improve their domestic and working lives is a prerequisite for collective action and organization-building capacity development. ‘Capacity development refers to a process by which certain abilities are enhanced…This definition indicates that certain means and conditions are needed in order to enable the process of capacity development’ (FAO, 2017, p. 127). One of the primary benefits of CFPA membership has been capacity development through annual training hosted by BARNUFO usually during the flyingfish off-season in a wide range of areas. More women are said to be participating in this, including in areas such as navigation and seamanship typically associated with men. Exposure to these training opportunities has enabled the women of the CFPA to build their human capital and enhance their livelihood assets. Siar and Kalikoski (2016) emphasize the need for multi-level capacity development in organizations and Kurien (2013) stresses that, ‘organizational capacity…needs to be woven into any organization’s short and long-term objectives…as a continuous and ongoing process, failing which, an organization tends to become irrelevant or moribund’ (p. 83).
Members generally had positive feelings about the CFPA and their vision for the organization. These results both point to the value assigned by them to collective action and organization-building – better working conditions, improved livelihoods, respect from market management and fisherfolk, etc. – and the need for the continued existence of the association to improve women’s contributions to and impact on the fishing industry. The women said that respect for them and their organization from men in the fishing industry was commonplace and not an issue. This augurs well for gender mainstreaming, but their perspective should not be taken as conclusive evidence that little has to be done. The complex dimensions of gender are not yet fully appreciated, and it is often falsely assumed that equality in the fishing industry is high (GIFT, 2018). The regional fisheries instruments and organizations described in the situation analysis will be the frontier for future advancement.
This study was designed to be exploratory to gain insights into collective action in the flyingfish fishery that could be used to inform future participatory action research with the CFPA. The findings warrant further investigation into women’s leadership and the roles and benefits of women’s participation in fisherfolk organizations, including better understanding of enablers and drivers of collective action with the full complement of CFPA members.
Conclusion
This research serves to document the range of positive pay-offs joining together for a common purpose can provide for women. It also highlighted the challenges encountered and their need for continued attention. Collective action by women and their participation in fisherfolk organizations is important for gender equity and equality in fisheries. We found that members maintained their commitment to each other and the organization for collective action in the face of adversity mainly to take advantage of the greater negotiating power of the group versus competitors and facilities management. They set aside their internal conflicts when threats escalated. The organization sought to deliver individual benefits to spur collective action by maintaining leadership that was able to provide capacity development, security of tenure in the work space, and other tangible rewards regardless of all internal strife. These findings underpin the importance of understanding the circumstances of fisherfolk collaboration of different types along with them while implementing the SSF Guidelines.
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Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Estimates based on best available data and information from countries; sex-disaggregated data unavailable.
2 Membership profile based on the results of three small group meetings with 12 CFPA members in 2017 and 2018, to examine livelihoods of women engaged in this fisherfolk organization.
3 Livelihoods analysis with the CFPA by CERMES-led GIFT: Sept, Oct 2017 and August 2018.