This project was initiated by the Norwegian Chairmanship of the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality and LGBTI in 2021. It is funded by The Nordic Committee of Senior Officials for Gender Equality and LGBTI (EK-JÄM) and Working Group for Fisheries (AG-Fisk). The project is conducted and managed by Nordregio and the University of Iceland, Department of Geography (& Tourism Studies), Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences.
Fisheries and aquaculture is an important economic sector for most of the Nordic countries. The “blue fields” of the seas in the Nordic Region are, however, a sector that is traditionally male-dominated and statistics on gender ratio and female presence reveal a gender-segregated labour market. The Nordic partners regard this gender imbalance in the sector as problematic on many levels, prompting launch of the LAKS OG LIKESTILLING (“Salmon and Equality”) project to identify reasons contributing to the gender imbalance. This project analyses factors hindering or promoting an improved gender balance in fisheries and aquaculture in the Nordic Region.
The project aims to contribute to an improved knowledge base on equality matters in fisheries and aquaculture, as well as other newly emerging blue economies across the Nordic countries. In parallel, it intends to raise awareness of the need for an improved gender balance in businesses as well as recognizing value of women’s skills who are working in the sector. More specifically, the research findings of the project are intended to improve knowledge of measures that have proved effective in increasing gender equality within the sector. On the basis of a comparative analysis, we aim to build a knowledge base for best practices and the exchange of experiences. Lastly, the results of the comparative research will be presented in policy recommendations on measures likely to increase recruitment of women, both as owners and active workers in the sector.
The project focuses on uncovering active measures that contribute to increased gender equality and more balanced representation of both men and women. It also aims to provide an overview of existing statistics on gender ratio among employees and employers in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and identify gaps with respect to division of labour and across strata within the sector.