Breaking Down Gender Barriers: The Moroccan Fisherwomen

posted on: Oct 8, 2020

Despite the different culture, nationality or language, gender barriers have always managed to hinder women’s success in different spheres, and the Moroccan women in the fishing industry had a huge victory that needs to be celebrated.

In a rigidly traditional culture and industry, women, decisive players in the development of artisan fishing, are often stopped from successfully profiting from their catch. Even worse, they are shamed for just being in the industry.

However, their conditions are slowly changing.

After decades working as net menders and yearning for an opportunity to start sea fishing, a group of women in a small town of Morocco has pushed forward initiatives to break down gender barriers in the fishing industry. After fighting for years to earn the right to work on a fishing boat in the Mediterranean, these women became the first Morocco’s first female fishing cooperative is pushing out its small boats into the sea.

Fishing Industry in Morocco

Morocco has 3,500 kilometres of coastlines, specifically 500 km on the Mediterranean coast and 3,000 km on the Atlantic. Its enormous fisheries potential for economic growth led to the strengthening of a solid tradition of maritime fisheries for the generations to come.

The fishing industry in Morocco is an economic pillar for the nation and a leading foreign exchange earner, responsible for 2.84% of the nation’s total export. In that same way, Morocco has one of the biggest fish markets in Africa, and people often consider it the largest maritime fisheries producer in said continent.

“The independent fishing sector provides 170,000 direct jobs and secures the livelihood of 5.2 million Moroccans,” explained Thami Mechti of the National Maritime Popularization Center in Laarache to Aljazeera.

The Belyounech Cooperative

Back in March 2018, Fatima Mekhnas launched, the Belyounech Cooperative, the North African country’s first female artisan fishing cooperative, to help fellow fisherwomen safely enter the market.

Prior to the establishment of the cooperation, men would work pulling squid, octopus, scorpionfish and red tuna from the waters, while many women in the village of Belyounech would only be able to work repairing nets and cleaning boats, without receiving any type of pay. In that same way, aside from cultural traditions, a lack of training was the main limitation for women that wanted to venture into sea fishing and profit off it. For that reason, Fatima Mekhnas along with 19 other women trained for two years, managing to break down gender barriers in a traditionally men-dominated industry.

“We’ve been giving women all the necessary training so they can fish safely and professionally and know how to keep themselves from harm’s way,” Mechti explained.

Two years later their dreams finally came true as they embarked on their first government-recognized fishing trip.

“Working in the sea is not easy but it is what my sisters and I love. It is finally coming true,” Mekhnas said.

Other Small Victories for Women in the Fishing Sector

Moroccan Association of Women from Tigri

Aside from the Belyounech cooperative, Moroccan society has also witnessed other attempts by women to claim their place in the fishing industry. An example of this is the Moroccan Association of Women from Tigri, which was founded a few years ago with the goal of promoting the sustainable harvesting of mussels and seashells in the province of Tiznit, in the south of Morocco.

Latifah Dibe, the founder of the Association, recognized that these women, who work in dangerous conditions and still use traditional mussel harvesting methods to gather seafood, deserve to be recognized for their hard work and important role in their community.

“The Association aims to create the right context and conditions to ensure the women’s independence and autonomy thanks to their work harvesting products like mussels,” Dibe said.

In addition to that, the Association also plays a pivotal role in organizing the annual Tigri Festival, which is one of the most important gastro-cultural events of the area dedicated to shellfish and artisan fishing.

Cooperative for Women in the Village of Douira

Historically, women in coastal villages were expected to harvest mussels for their families. Since people saw their daily activities as mussel harvesters as a duty rather than a job, women would rarely earn any profit if they sold the mussels locally.

For that reason, the cooperative for women in the village of Douria, coordinated by Fatima Atanane, focuses on making the activity more lucrative by expanding their market, which ultimately helps them gain community recognition for their dangerous work. In that same way, the cooperative attempts to find new ways to preserve, dry and cook mussels in order to increase their profitability. These women have made tremendous progress in their industry; their cooperative is the first one in Morocco to sell mussels in vacuumed packages.

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