Recognizing Women’s Wellbeing and Contribution to Social Resilience in Fisheries

This is the final version. Available on open access from Routledge via the DOI in this recordBuilding social resilience is important for fishing communities, which globally face unprecedented social and environmental change. While women’s direct and indirect contribution to fishing economies is increasingly recognized, their contribution to the social resilience of fisheries remains under-examined. Using interview and focus group data, we investigate women’s role in supporting the social resilience of UK fishing communities and examine implications for women’s wellbeing. Our findings reveal that beyond supporting the economic viability of fishing businesses, women help maintain the social fabric of fisheries and nurture the physical and mental wellbeing of fishing families, often at a cost to their own material, social and emotional wellbeing. Tensions between social resilience at the household or community level and women’s individual wellbeing have important implications for fisheries policy, which rarely considers the wider social context of fisheries. We identify ways in which women’s roles and wellbeing can be included in decision-making and policy.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC