New book on gender and fisheries in South Pacific.

A new book providing a fresh look, through a gender lens, at Pacific fisheries issues is about to be published in Fiji by the University of the South Pacific. Written by Pacific Islanders in collaboration with Canadian academics, Pacific Voices: Equity and Sustainability in Pacific Island Fisheries highlights the challenges facing small scale and subsistence fisheries, the labor conditions in fish processing and marketing, and lessons to be learned from evolving community-based management institutions in the South Pacific. The authors argue that the importance of subsistence fishing traditionally conducted by women has remained undervalued and, for the most part, unstudied. They maintain that the fisheries resources that feed many South Pacific peoples are now at risk, particularly from the over fishing that is driven by processes of modernization and the commodification of marine resources. And they conclude that the need for effective and equitable management is clear and urgent. The book is based on several case studies coordinated by Irene Novaczek of the University of Prince Edward Island, and will provide new understandings of the importance of the inshore fisheries and the role that women play as fishers and resource managers in the South Pacific. Funding for the studies was provided by C-SPOD.