251
13 Gender in Galician Shell-Fisheries: Transforming for Governability
Training Contributes to Mariscadoras’ Empowerment
The massive participation of women in the various training courses considerably
enhanced the organization of shell fi shing. Women who did not participate either in training courses or regional meetings bene fi ted from the knowledge of those who had.
Training enabled the women to improve their skills and establish their own organizations. In fact, the enhancement of women’s private and public roles is invariably linked.
Re-organization of Shell fi sh Activity: Resource Management,
Marketing, and Restocking of Clams
The training courses provided women with basic knowledge for the sustainable
development of resources. They followed courses on the biological and ecological
aspects of bivalves, bivalve productivity, and harvesting and cultivation techniques.
This knowledge enabled them to express their informed opinions about shell fi sh
management within the cofradías and to collaborate productively with marine biologists. At the time, the regional fi sheries administration was implementing the
Productive, Professional and Organizational Development Program for Shell fi shing,
focused on the cultivation of commercially valuable shell fi sh. European funds were
also used in this project to fi nance the biologists needed for resource management.
Biologists and shell fi shing organizations collaborated every year to design a proposal for the annual shell fi sh exploitation plan within the speci fi c territory of each
cofradía . The annual plan for shell fi sh gathering had been obligatory since 1993
(Law 6/93), but had not been immediately enforced. Each cofradía submitted their
annual exploitation plan to the fi sheries administration for validation. Regulating
shell fi sh resources by limiting access and reducing fi shing effort were the main
objectives stipulated by the fi sheries administration. Each exploitation plan de fi ned
extraction and rest zones, and stated the number of mariscadoras and harvesting
days, taking into account the annual maximum tonnage of capture based on stock
evaluation. The exploitation plan restricts the harvesting effort in the shell fi sh beds
with the objective of maintaining good prices for shell fi sh catches. In fact, daily
harvesting is reduced during seasons of low demand and increased during peak
periods, such as Christmas, New Year and other dates when consumers are ready to pay
a high price for shell fi sh. The cofradía authority aids the monitoring of compliance,
but the regional fi sheries administration supports these efforts and develops speci fi c
surveillance programs in the shell fi sh beds.
9
9 Since 2008, due to the economic crisis in Spain and Galicia, poaching in shell fi sh beds has been
on the rise. Surveillance in these areas is usually dif fi cult, and organized groups of poachers are
known to use violence occasionally against enforcers.
13 Gender in Galician Shell-Fisheries: Transforming for Governability
Training Contributes to Mariscadoras’ Empowerment
The massive participation of women in the various training courses considerably
enhanced the organization of shell fi shing. Women who did not participate either in training courses or regional meetings bene fi ted from the knowledge of those who had.
Training enabled the women to improve their skills and establish their own organizations. In fact, the enhancement of women’s private and public roles is invariably linked.
Re-organization of Shell fi sh Activity: Resource Management,
Marketing, and Restocking of Clams
The training courses provided women with basic knowledge for the sustainable
development of resources. They followed courses on the biological and ecological
aspects of bivalves, bivalve productivity, and harvesting and cultivation techniques.
This knowledge enabled them to express their informed opinions about shell fi sh
management within the cofradías and to collaborate productively with marine biologists. At the time, the regional fi sheries administration was implementing the
Productive, Professional and Organizational Development Program for Shell fi shing,
focused on the cultivation of commercially valuable shell fi sh. European funds were
also used in this project to fi nance the biologists needed for resource management.
Biologists and shell fi shing organizations collaborated every year to design a proposal for the annual shell fi sh exploitation plan within the speci fi c territory of each
cofradía . The annual plan for shell fi sh gathering had been obligatory since 1993
(Law 6/93), but had not been immediately enforced. Each cofradía submitted their
annual exploitation plan to the fi sheries administration for validation. Regulating
shell fi sh resources by limiting access and reducing fi shing effort were the main
objectives stipulated by the fi sheries administration. Each exploitation plan de fi ned
extraction and rest zones, and stated the number of mariscadoras and harvesting
days, taking into account the annual maximum tonnage of capture based on stock
evaluation. The exploitation plan restricts the harvesting effort in the shell fi sh beds
with the objective of maintaining good prices for shell fi sh catches. In fact, daily
harvesting is reduced during seasons of low demand and increased during peak
periods, such as Christmas, New Year and other dates when consumers are ready to pay
a high price for shell fi sh. The cofradía authority aids the monitoring of compliance,
but the regional fi sheries administration supports these efforts and develops speci fi c
surveillance programs in the shell fi sh beds.
9
9 Since 2008, due to the economic crisis in Spain and Galicia, poaching in shell fi sh beds has been
on the rise. Surveillance in these areas is usually dif fi cult, and organized groups of poachers are
known to use violence occasionally against enforcers.