The study is an analysis of artisanal fisherwomen and their strategies to meet family nutritional needs, their socio-ecological and economic contributions within the supply chain and their role in promoting sustainable fishing and local food sovereignty.
Rising ocean temperatures, acidification, pollution and overfishing have led to changes in coastal marine ecosystems. In addition, hurricanes and droughts have impacted negatively the populations in coastal areas, fishing infrastructure, and the communication routes (FAO, 2024), including the seafood capturing processes, fishing operating costs, and the population's ways of living (FAO, 2023).
In the Canton of Puerto Jiménez, located in the Province of Puntarenas, Costa Rica, about 30 artisanal fisherwomen who are building creative climate change adaptation strategies (Viña, 2022) in conditions of great socio-environmental vulnerability, unemployment, little education and state abandonment, have been identified. For 15% of these censused fisherwomen, artisanal fishing is part of a basic supply chain contributing to the family economy, and for the remaining 85%, artisanal fishing is only for self-consumption. This lifestyle provides both; food for families and the sustainability of marine ecology (Solórzano, Ayales and Solís, 2016).
Many fisherwomen have informal jobs, hence complement the fishing activity with the sale of handicrafts, food, agricultural products, while performing domestic and unpaid care work. (Lamb, 2024). While fishing, they face patriarchal structures related to: marketing of seafood, limited political participation in decision-making, marketing of products, training and attention to the nutritional needs of the family, among others. Thus, it is difficult to quantify these women’s economic contribution to artisanal fishing and their unpaid daily chores.
For these reasons, a multilevel study related to the participation of the artisanal fisherwomen in food sovereignty and the basic supply chain will be carried out. From the intersectional feminist theory (Viveros, 2023), an analysis of gender roles in artisanal fishing, access and control of fishing resources, resilience to climate change, sustainable artisanal fishing practices, among others, will be developed.
With the mixed, participatory and decolonial methodology (Guerra, 2018), a microlevel analysis will be carried out on the perceptions about the role of women in artisanal fishing, the basic supply chain and food sovereignty.
At the meso level, the interactions between families and community groups that share coastal marine areas for artisanal fishing and the construction of certain supply chains will be examined.
Finally, at the macro-level, the analysis would deal with the institutional structures related to Public Policies that grant these women sovereignity over Decision Making in the Canton of Puerto Jiménez.
The results generated will be used to present a series of recommendations that will promote food sovereignty to the supply chain practiced by women, taking into account sustainable fishing practices, local and regional support networks, participation in political decision-making, access to nutritious seafood, the conservation of traditional knowledge about sustainable fishing and marketing at a fair price, among others.
The secondary data collection involving fisherwomen was conducted over the year 2024.