Promoting women´s leadership in fisheries. Campaign with Sofonie Dala. Day 1

 Why talking about Angola?

Angola is a country with insufficient marine data, no environmental conservation awareness and lack of policies regarding conservation and fisheries.

The idea of promoting women´s leadership in fisheries caught my attention for the first time. I started thinking on ways to increase the economic returns in fishing for women, improve training and information transmission to women fishermen, apply quota system for women, finance women´s leadership in fisheries and farmer´s organizations.

Furthermore, there is a need to direct more financial resources than ever before toward female fishermen, since their economic independence and empowerment are linked to many issues, particularly issues of access to water and land, production resources, credit, alternative  energy sources, technology, information and markets.

Today, our main challenge is to seek all kinds of solutions to address the prevailing question: ‘’How can we make fishing more profitable and sustainable for future generation of fishermen’’?

In this article we will reflect on the story of Claudia, an amateur angler from Angola.

Claudia is a vulnerable single mother who depends on fishing to survive and support her children. Claudia claims that she faces many barriers in the world of fishing. Every day she is persecuted by the agents of the state, the so-called police and fiscal who do not allow her to fish in peace. She says that she often hides her fishing gear in the public trash can so as not to be discovered by the tax authorities, who every time they see her fishing, they forbid her to fish and receive the fish she caught to eat with her children. Usually when this happens she is forced to ask for alms in the streets to get something to eat. 

Claudia is a vulnerable single mother who depends on fishing to survive and support her children. Claudia claims that she faces many barriers in the world of fishing. Every day she and persecuted by the agents of the state, the so-called police and fiscal who do not allow her to fish in peace. She says that she often hides her fishing gear in the public trash can so as not to be discovered by the tax authorities, who every time they see her fishing, they forbid her to fish and receive the fish she caught to eat with her children. Usually when this happens she is forced to ask for alms in the streets to get something to eat.

Interview with Claudia

Good afternoon ma'am. How are you?

Good afternoon, I'm fine, thank you.

What is your name?

My name is Claudia.

Claudia, what are you doing here?

I fish here.

Are you a fisherman?

Yes, I'm a fisherwoman in this area, and I'm also a beggar here begging from people who come here to relax.

Tell me a little bit about fishing. Did you catch anything today?

I haven't fished yet, but I am about to fish, you can observe me doing it.

Did you bring your fishing gear?

Yes, I'm ready.

How has the fishing been? Is there a lot of fish?

Well, we have lots of fish, but the biggest challenge is the cops. We are suffering, they should stop doing this. Every time I come to fish, they tell me to take the line out of the water and order me to get out of here and go home.

When I go home with nothing, who will feed my children? I am a mother and father at the same time (single mother), my husband is already deceased. The father of this baby that I got involved with after my husband's death, beat my children a lot. I have not admitted this and separated from him. Thank God some people of good faith rented a house where I am living with my children now.

Do you depend on fishing for a living?

Well, I depend on fishing to survive and to support my children.

What is the material that you use for fishing?

Here is my gear, I use, line, bucket, hook, bait to lure the fish, and a drum.

Why do you keep your material in the garbage bin?

We keep our stuff here so the cops don't throw it away. 

How do you use it?

I take the canister, wrap the wire around the hook, and on the end of the hook I put bait (food to attract fish) and then I throw it into the sea.

When the tide is low, the fish don't come out. They may bite but they don't stick to the hook. We have to wait until the tide is up, and if there are fish, we catch them and put them in the bucket.

If someone offered you a sponsorship what would you like to have to make your fishing easier?

To make my fishing easier, I would like to have a net. With the net I can fish very well. I leave the baby with my son and then I dive into the sea. Since the cops forbid us to put the net here at the shore, so I go more to the bottom of the sea to fish better. That little boy swimming there is my son.

Wouldn't you like to have a canoe?

I don't know how to drive a canoe.

But you can hire someone to do it for you. 

OK, OK.

Is the fishnet expensive?

Yes, the net is very expensive. The one I would like to have is too expensive, I can't afford it.

How much does it cost?

There are some for 30,000 and for 25,000 kwanzas.

Conclusions 

As shown in the article, we did a brief reportage with fishermen in the city of Luanda, Angola. We collected stories from people of different ages, adolescents, youth and adults. They reported that there is a lot of fish in the sea but they face financial problems and lack of fishing material that is very expensive.

Furthermore,fish in the informal market is very expensive because the fishermen who sell fish to the informal traders cannot fish in large quantities due to lack of financial resources, fishing gear, and constant harassment from the police. Thus making life difficult for the most vulnerable people who depend on fishing to survive.

We also noticed a low level of women leading the fishing world, they usually play the role of fishmongers in the streets.

Local women taking part on the artisanal fishery scene by transporting, transforming and selling landing products.