Exploring the changing role(s), identities and wellbeing of women in small-scale fishing families

Small-scale fishing vessels (those under ten metres) make up 80% of the UK's fishing fleet [1] yet receive only 4% of the total national fishing quota [2,3].

By failing to prioritise this industry, it is widely established that the UK has left the families that depend upon it vulnerable. Hidden within this vulnerability are thousands of women vital to the survival of small-scale fishing businesses.

To explore and raise their profile, this project will examine women's roles, identities and wellbeing in fishing families.

This research is particularly timely as, by exiting the EU, the UK government will be reviewing its support to the fishing industry, making decisions about what type of fishery - and whom within it - should be supported and how.

The research focuses on the roles women play in responding to recent economic downturns in the fishing sector. There are two main ways in which this is done: i) fisheries diversification, and ii) non-fishing employment.

i) Recent research has shown that diversifying fishing businesses - by operating in several different areas to spread the risk of low catches - can help small-scale fishers to create stable incomes [4-6]. Examples of diversification strategies are processing of fish and opening a restaurant where the caught fish can be sold at a higher price. Whilst the contributions of women within fisheries diversification have been noted as important [4], no research to date has explored this in-depth.

ii) The project will also consider how the fishing family can adapt to economic downturns by seeking non-fishing employment.

Alongside this, previous research has noted that women support the wellbeing and health of their male fishing partners [7,8] but this research has not explored the wellbeing of women themselves.

By responding to these gaps in knowledge, this research will study women's changing roles in fishing families and how this is associated with women's changing identities and their wellbeing.

To meet the research aims, the research will take place in two phases using a qualitative approach - a method of study which involves interviewing people and listening to their experiences. Phase I will involve a period of in-depth interviews with families in the UK. Information will also be collected in Canada to explore similarities and differences between two countries with different fishing policies.

In exploring these aspects of the fishing family, this research will provide new and vital insights into how fishing families can develop resilience to changes in their industry, and how governments can support this. It will also show how changes in fishing families can affect the wellbeing of women and if more could be done to support them.

In addition to meeting the research aims, the Principal Investigator (PI) will seek to achieve societal impact by convening and leading a series of stakeholder engagements. In particular, the project will establish the platform 'Women In Fishing Families Association' (WIFFA) in collaboration with the project's non-academic Steering Group. Within the WIFFA platform the PI will co-organise one trans-European exchange programme for women in fishing families aiming to develop capacity within the network as well as a Final Workshop were research findings and WIFFA progress will be disseminated and discussed.

Findings from this research and progress of the WIFFA will be communicated on the project website and in the project Final Booklet. The aim of these stakeholder engagement events is to raise the profile of women in small-scale fishing families in the UK by making their contributions visible and their voices heard.

The impacts this study will generate are twofold: first, it will develop 'conceptual' impact (e.g. reframing debates in public and societal groups) and, second, it will generate 'instrumental impact' (such as influencing the development of policy) [9]. To achieve this, the research engages four target end-groups beyond academia:

1. Women in fishing families: By nuancing the representation of women in fisheries and making visible the 'invisible' contributions of women to the survival of small-scale fishing families, this research will empower this target group to become recognised within the family, community, industry and fishing policies [see 10]. Furthermore, it has been observed that taking part in this kind of narrative research (Phase I) can promote the wellbeing of participants themselves by supporting them in making sense of and articulating their experiences in their own words [11].

2. Local, national and international 'Women in fisheries' groups: The research will support the advocacy work already being done to help women in fisheries by providing much needed evidence on the economic and social position as well as wellbeing of women in fisheries in the UK. Secondly, by engaging these groups throughout the research (e.g. AKTEA and LIFE see 'Letters of Support') the researcher will directly contribute to their existing work. Collaborating like this will create opportunities for mutual learning between different perspectives and cultures, which will feed back into the framing of the research project. Thirdly, the PI will facilitate the development of a UK-based network of women in fishing families (see 'Pathways to Impact').

3. Fishing industry organisations: The research will also be of value to those promoting the small-scale fishing industry at local and national levels. These stakeholders are local fisheries (or 'fishermen's') associations who organise individual small-scale fishers locally and are present all over the UK and beyond. At the national level there are fisheries organisations representing those local associations (e.g. 'The Welsh Fisherman's Association', 'The Scottish Fishermen's Association' and the 'New Under Ten Fishermen's Association' (NUTFA)). Whilst it is identified that this project has relevance to these groups, the PI will engage with these male dominated groups sensitively as the findings of this project may not always represent their primary interests. At the same time, some of these groups have expressed interest and support of this project through participating in the project Steering Group (e.g. NUTFA). Therefore, to achieve impact within this group, the researcher will engage key individuals sympathetic to supporting women in UK fisheries and support them in broadening awareness within their, perhaps less sympathetic, fishing circles.

4. National policy representatives and organisations (e.g. Marine Management Organisation (MMO), Marine Scotland, Natural Resources Wales, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Northern Ireland), and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra, England); Seafish): The research will re-frame debates around what support is needed for achieving a more socio-economically sustainable small-scale fishing industry by contributing much needed 'holistic' evidence on how fishing families are responding to change. By addressing this gap in knowledge, key sources of resilience will be identified which is much needed and helpful knowledge for those seeking to manage fisheries for a better future. In addition, the research will engage with the perspective of these organisations (Phase II) to be able to suggest specific measures that these organisations could take to improve the position of women in a post-Brexit fishing industry.

The specific activities that will be organised to maximise the impacts of the research will be outlined in 'Pathways to Impact'.