SEMINAR ON SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES POLICY AND COASTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

1
SEMINAR ON SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES POLICY AND
COASTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

• AUGUST 7, 2004, KARACHI

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ROLE OF FISHER WOMENS IN FISHERY INDUSTRY OF
PAKISTAN

• PRESENTATION
• BY
• Tayyaba Ahmed

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SEA AS A SOURCE OF FOOD

• Wisdom of nature 1/4th land 3/4th water.
• Many benefits uses of seas and oceans Most
  important being a source of food for humans.

4
SEA AS A SOURCE OF FOOD

• Importance of sea food increasing day by day
  because of shortage of traditional grain food on
  the 1/4th part of the land on earth.
• Those nation and countries of the world who have
  realized its importance are in the process of RD
  to gain maximum benefit of the sea.

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PRESENT SITUATION OF FISHERIES

• Fisheries sector of Pakistan represents an
  important source of employment, income and
  foreign exchange earnings.
• It contributes only 0.8 of total nation GDP and
  3.7 of agriculture.

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PRESENT SITUATION OF FISHERIES

• The major source of fish in Pakistan are the
  Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Pakistan which
  extends upto 200 N.M and 8.5 million Hectares of
  Inland water.
• About 26 of total production consumed locally,
  the rest in either exported of resources as fish
  meal, the supply of fish per capita is estimated
  to be 1.1kg/year.

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PRESENT SITUATION OF FISHERIES

• Government of Pakistan is taking keen interest in
  the development of fisheries sector.
• Enhancement of fish production, measures in
  exports earnings as well as domestic consumption
  of fish diversification of fishing efforts,
  utilization of the fishermen communities.

8
ROLE OF FISHERY INDUSTRY IN THE ECONOMY OF
PAKISTAN

• Fisheries play an important role in national
  economy.
• Provides employment to about 300,000 fishermen
  directly and 400,000 people in ancillary
  industries.

9
ROLE OF FISHERIES INDUSTRY IN THE ECONOMY OF
PAKISTAN

• Major source of export earning

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FISH HARBOURS OF PAKISTAN

• Karachi Fisheries Harbour
• Korangi Fish Harbour
• Pasni Fish Harbour
• Gawadar Fish Harbour

11
EXPORT OF FISHERIES PRODUCTS

• Fish and fishery products are processed and
  Exported to over 50 countries.
• 50 of Fishery Products are exported to European
  Union Countries.
• 20 to USA, remaining 30 to other Countries.

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EXPORT OF FISHERIES PRODUCTS

• Canada
• USA
• Denmark
• Japan
• Holland
• Norway

• Iceland
• Korea
• Hong Kong
• Taiwan
• Singapore
• Malaysia

13
NUMBER OF FISH WORKERS ENGAGED IN FISHERIES
SECTOR

• Fisheries sector in Pakistan provides employment
  to about 300,000 fishermen directly.
• In addition, another 400,000 people are employed
  in ancillary industries

14
MAJOR FISHERFOLK SETTLEMENTS/TOWN IN SINDH

• Mubarak village
• Mauripur
• Hawks Bay
• Ibrahim Hyderi
• Rehri Village
• Salih Abad
• Bhit Island
• Baba Island

• Shamas Pir.
• Kakka Village
• Kiamari
• Chasma Village
• Lath Basti
• Shah Bandar
• Keti Bunder
• Jaati
• Badin, etc.

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CONCLUSION OF A WORKSHOP THAT

• Without women in fisheries, no fish in the sea
  was the conclusion of a workshop that was
  conducted by the women in fisheries programme of
  the international collective in support of fish
  workers in Senegal in 1996.

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WORKING WOMEN IN FISH INDUSTRY OF THE WORLD

• According to an Food Agriculture Organization
  (FAO) report of 1996, more than 21 million people
  worldwide are engaged in fisheries sector.
• 90 are small scale operators.
• 95 live in developing countries.

17
WORKING WOMEN IN FISH INDUSTRY OF THE WORLD

• Coastal fisheries in the south and Southeast Asia
  alone employ around 6.7 million people directly.
• Approximately 15 million if the processing sector
  is included.
• 50 are women. About 200 million people around
  the world depend on fisheries for an income.

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SOCIAL STATUS OF FISHER WOMEN IN PAKISTAN

• Fisherfolk Society in Pakistan has remained
  liberal compared to the agriculture society of
  the Country.
• All resources endowed by nature are considered
  community property.

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SOCIAL STATUS OF FISHER WOMEN IN PAKISTAN

• The women distribute the harvests, and serve as
  virtual heads of their families.
• There is no veil system for women in fisherfolk
  society. The women have greater roles in family
  matters because the men usually spend most of
  their time in fishing.

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SOCIAL STATUS OF FISHER WOMEN IN PAKISTAN

• Everyone, including the men, is identified by
  their mother, not their father.
• Karachi was also named after a woman, Mai
  Kalochi, who was the chieftain of a small
  fishing business other trades in her village.

21
SOCIAL STATUS OF FISHER WOMEN IN PAKISTAN

• Presently, however, there are 2 diverse trends in
  the fisherfolk communities with regard to status
  of women. Among the traditional fisherfolk
  communities there is liberal thinking about
  women.

22
SOCIAL STATUS OF FISHER WOMEN IN PAKISTAN

• A large number of agriculture communities have
  also diverted their livelihood towards fisheries
  after the destruction of Agriculture sector
  because of the Indus Delta.
• As such women are not only deprived of their
  basic rights and freedom but are also confined
  inside the 4 walls of the house in the name of
  morality and decency.

23
SOCIAL STATUS OF FISHER WOMEN IN PAKISTAN

• With the shift of this population towards
  fisheries livelihoods, they brought along their
  rigid traditions with regard to women in
  exclusion and continue to implement the veil
  system even with their transfer to the
  fisherfolk.

24
WORKING WOMEN IN FISHERY INDUSTRY OF PAKISTAN

• About 10,000 Women Workers are associated with
  the Fisheries Industry and are employed in 30
  Registered Processing Plants in Pakistan and more
  than 50 Warrahs ( being run by the contractors)

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WORKING WOMEN IN FISHERY INDUSTRY OF PAKISTAN

• 27 Processing Plants and more than 50 Warrahs are
  located in different Areas of Karachi Coast.
• While 04 Processing Plants are in Gwadar and
  Pasni.

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WORKING WOMEN IN FISHERY INDUSTRY OF PAKISTAN

• 23 Plants Fish Harbor,
• West Wharf, Karachi.
• 02 Plants S.I.T.E. Area
• Karachi.
• 02 Plants Korangi Industrial Area
• 04 Plants Gwadar Pasni.

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WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• Health of employees depends upon the environment
  of working place where they work. If environment
  of working place is clean and healthy then health
  of employees will also be good and if the working
  environment is unhealthy then the health of
  employees will not be good.

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WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• Women Workers peel/clean the ice covered shrimps,
  fish and crabs with their bare hands. Rubber
  boots, gloves or any such provisions are unheard
  of in there Processing Plants or Warrahs.
• The fear of losing their job makes them hide
  their cuts and wounds from the employer.

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WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• Sitting constantly in an unchanged position for
  many hours causes trouble in the spinal column of
  these Women Workers. This group includes women of
  all ages, the youngest being of the age of 15
  years. This problem can be fatal for Pregnant
  Women.

30
WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• In Warrahs there in no protection from heat. At
  one hand these women workers are working in hot
  weather while at another hand they are handling
  with ice covered shrimps. Since these women are
  simultaneously exposed to hot and cold
  conditions, they are early susceptible to disease.

31
WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• There is no proper Toilet facilities available in
  Warrahs. If a woman worker who starts her work
  in the morning say at about 400 am and keep
  sits peeling shrimps for 7-8 hours, sitting in a
  same position, needs such facilities there.

32
WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• The floors of Warrahs always remain wet. Due to
  falling of shrimps wastage the floor looked like
  as grease has been rubbed on it. Thus making the
  floor slippery for women workers to work.

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WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• No Dispensary or First-Aid facilities are found
  in these Warrahs.
• No hand washing facilities are provided at the
  work place in these Warrahs.

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WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• In some of the Warrah there is one toilet for
  100 women workers and the condition of this
  toilets is deplorable and unhygienic.
• There is no provision of gloves Apron/coat for
  these working women.

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WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• No changing room to change into working cloth,
  thus forcing working women to work in their daily
  wear.
• Proper working tools are not provided to working
  women, thus hands and finger of these working
  women are injured.
• No proper lighting system, which makes difficult
  to these women workers to work during night.

36
WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• There is no proper drainage system in warrah, to
  drain out the filthy water of ice covered shrimps
  and other Sea food products.
• There is no system of Garbage disposal of fish,
  shrimp, shells and crabs wastage.

37
WORKING HOURS / WORKING DAY

• No fixed working hours are observed in these
  Warrahs and Women Workers are called in
  whenever the catch arrives, even if it is in the
  middle of the night, depriving them of a nights
  break.

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WORKING HOURS / WORKING DAY

• The shrimps perish fast and the peeling has to be
  done before noon each day. Thus, work for these
  women begins at 4am and ends finally at midday.
• All days in a week are working days depending
  upon the receipt and arrival of catch in these
  Warrahs. It could be Sunday or on any National
  Holidays.

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WORKING HOURS / WORKING DAY

• During the season when maximum catch of sea food
  is brought in the Warrahs the women workers are
  forced to work for a continuous period of 14 to
  15 hours.

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OTHER ACTIVITIES OF WOMEN WORKERS IN FISHERY
SECTOR

• Drying of fish
• Cleaning of fish
• Fish meal
• plants
• Fish meal
• Powder solid to
• poultry form

• Processing of
• crabs
• Peeling shrimps
• Grading
• Sorting
• Packing

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OTHER ACTIVITIES OF WOMEN WORKERS IN FISHERY
SECTOR

• As of today a small number of Women Workers are
  involved in weaving nets, making fish baskets,
  etc as wage labourers.

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HEALTH CONDITIONS OF FISHER WOMENS

• Due to un hygienic condition of Warrahs, the
  women workers may effected by following illness/
  diseases
• Malaria
• Gastrointestinal
• Tuberculosis
• Skin Disease (coxcomb)
• Hepatitis-B
• Back Ache

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ROLE OF FISHER WOMEN S IN THE DEVOLOPMENT OF
FISHERIES OF PAKISTAN

• In the past the women usually accompanied the men
  in their family on fishing trips.
• The fishermen would usually take the whole family
  to remote islands, where all of them would help
  in fishing as well as in cleaning and its drying.

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ROLE OF FISHER WOMENS IN THE FISHERIES OF PAKISTAN

• The women would sell the fish in the local and
  remote markets while the men continued fishing.
• In some cases, when the men leave for major
  fishing voyages that last 10 to 20 days, the
  fisher women would continue fishing though at a
  smaller scale in the shallow waters of coast.

45
ROLE OF FISHER WOMENS IN THE FISHERIES OF PAKISTAN

• However, with the commercialization of fisheries,
  expansion of fishing business into an industry
  and the influx of non-indigenous fishermen
  everywhere-from the deltaic creeks to the deep
  waters from coast- the women were slowly and
  gradually pushed out of fishing activities.
• With the change in fishing practices, from the
  family to industrial fishing, role of women in
  family fishing has come almost to an end in
  Pakistan.

46
WOMEN IN NET MAKING ACTIVITY

• Fisherwomen were the main artisans of fishing
  nets and baskets in the sub-continent as well.
• Different kinds of nets originated from Sindh
  and Balochistan but it was after 1977 that there
  was a sudden increase in the variety of nets.

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WOMEN IN NET MAKING ACTIVITY

• When fisher women more or less retired from
  active fishing and focused more on the home, they
  lost a steady income.
• The main source of income for fisher women has
  always been from making cotton fishing nets,
  which gave them a stable and regular, if modest,
  income.

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WOMEN IN NET MAKING ACTIVITY

• The earnings from net making depended on the
  complexity, strength and weight of the net. When
  nets were made exclusive of cotton thread, fisher
  women earned Rs. 5 to 10 per day.

49
WOMEN IN NET MAKING ACTIVITY

• After late 60s, the process of Modernization,
  Mechanization and Globalization suddenly hit hard
  the indigenous cotton net-making profession of
  the fisherwomen,
• pushing them from this profession in the same
  manner that they were pushed out from fishing.

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WOMEN WORKERS IN FISH PROCESSING

• Women Workers had been and are an integral part
  of the work force working in the Fishery
  Industry.
• These Women Workers carry out all possible sort
  of work in their capacity.

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WOMEN WORKERS IN FISH PROCESSING

• With the commercialization and industrialization
  of Fishery Industry it no longer remains a
  family-based activity.
• The Fisheries became professionalized with
  only men being recognized as Fishers and thereby
  restricting access of Womens to the resource.

52
WOMEN WORKERS IN FISH PROCESSING

• In areas where export agents took over the
  catches, Women Worker lost access to fish for
  sale and were turned into wage Labourers for
  sorting out and drying the fish for the exporters
  .

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LOW WAGES

• The wages of Women Workers in Fisheries Industry
  are the Lowest.
• Lowest even what has been allowed in the
• Minimum Wages Ordinance 1961, Payment of Wages
  Act,1936.
• West Pakistan Minimum Wages for unskilled Workers
  Ordinance 1969.

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LOW WAGES

• One of the examples of poor wages for Women
  Workers is that 12-16 kilograms peeled shrimp a
  day fetches them mere Rs. 40 60.
• But despite all these harsh conditions, economic
  compulsions force them to work to support their
  families. Their economic condition has
  deteriorated and poverty has become endemic.

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LOW WAGES

• About 1 kg of shrimp is being peeled by a women
  worker in an hour, more expert women peel even 1¼
  to 1½ kilos of shrimp but this is not common.
• Report name the Case of Home based
  sub-contracted women in Pakistan, if a woman or
  girl peels 11kgs of shrimp in a day then she
  earns Rs.88.

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DEMOGRAPHIC STATUS OF WOMEN

• 30 working women are above 30 years.
• 60 working women are 20-30 years
• 10 working women/ girls are below 20 years.

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DEMOGRAPHIC STATUS OF WOMEN

• Some women workers bring their young children, as
  a helper to earn maximum income in a day.

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RESPONSIBILITY OF GOVERNMENT

• Government is responsible for making policies,
  inter-provincial coordination, planning,
  research, quality control, training, exploratory
  fishing, stock assessment, fisheries management,
  fleet improvement, data collection and export
  etc.

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RESPONSIBILITY OF GOVERNMENT

• But in the case of Women Workers in Fisheries
  Industry of Pakistan, the Government has not
  persuaded any Policy or Programme to improve the
  socio-economic condition of Women Workers of
  Fisheries Industry.

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RESPONSIBILITY OF GOVERNMENT

• The Handbook of Fisheries Statistics of
  Pakistanthe annual publication of Pakistans
  Marine Fisheries Department last published in
  1998for example, has no mention of women, even
  though it carries a full chapter on the fishermen
  population

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• The only and ever lasting solution to all the
  problem of Women Workers is the implementation of
  Labour Laws.
• Awareness in the women workers about their right
  guaranted in Labour Law.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• Implementation of labour law could only be made
  by having a Committee which may comprises of
• Local UC Councilors
• Local Social Personality
• Labour Inspector of the area
• Member of NGO
• Representative of area Police Station

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• It should be clearly brought into the notice of
  all exporters, Warrah Contractor that violation
  of Labour Law could be fatal to their business.
• The hygienic conditions of the Warrahs be
  improved.
• Medical facilities be provided in Warrahs and
  other women working areas.

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THANK YOU