Description
There is a growing trend in the literature highlighting women’s contributions in fishing, but women continue to remain invisible in marine resource management and policy. Researchers and fishing communities alike perpetuate this by defining fishing in ways that continue to exclude or undervalue women’s fishing activities. Mo’orea, French Polynesia presents an opportunity to contribute to a growing body of literature advocating for gendered analysis in marine resource management. Tourism development and the implementation of a formal marine management plan have shaped fishing on Mo’orea through ecological, social, and political changes. These changes have transformed women’s fishing practices and disproportionately impacted women’s access to fishing on Mo’orea. This research contributes to a more complex understanding of gender and marine resource management by linking gender to definitions of fishing, formal and informal management systems, and fishing practices. On Mo’orea there are subtle gendered differences in fishing methods and strategies, but significant gendered differences in the perceptions of fishing, catch distribution, and marine resource access.
