CALL FOR PAPERS

The 9th Global Conference on Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries (GAF9) of the Gender in Aquaculture & Fisheries Section of the Asian Fisheries Society on the theme “Transforming aquaculture and fisheries for gender justice” will be held from 1-3 October 2025 at the Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani, Thailand. GAF9 invites researchers, academics, students and practitioners to share the latest information and knowledge on gender in aquaculture and fisheries while also learning about new opportunities and innovative approaches to achieve gender equality in the aquaculture and fisheries sectors. Over the past 25 years, GAFS has been shining a light on gender issues in the general discourse on fisheries and aquaculture, however challenges, both old and new, continue.

GAF9 sub-themes include:

1. Women/gender in the blue economy

2. Gender and climate change: Navigating the impacts on fisheries and aquaculture

3. Nature-based solutions in aquaculture and fisheries

4. Innovative frameworks/methodology for gender research in fisheries and aquaculture

5. Counting and discounting: men’s and women’s work in fisheries and aquaculture

Gender in aquaculture/ fisheries is facing new challenges with the advances in the blue economy on the one hand and the promotion of nature-based solutions to climate change on the other hand. How do we protect women’s rights, promote gender equality and empower women in different contexts and locations in the face of these changes? Access to resources, labor markets, gender-based violence, gender norms, women’s positions and negotiation power in the value chain are some of the factors that need to be explored in terms of their impact on women within the blue economy. Climate change has a gendered impact on people due to their differential and multiple productive and reproductive roles within the family and community, including in the areas of food security and nutrition. It is therefore time for a nuanced understanding of the impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture and subsequently on women. Nature-based solutions in aquaculture are being proposed as the solution to climate change; and there is a need for rigorous scientific measurement of not only the environmental impact of such solutions, but also the gendered socio-economic impact of such solutions. Gender inclusion will ensure the equitable distribution of benefits to women, indigenous people and other marginalized groups. Innovative frameworks/methodology for gender research in fisheries and aquaculture becomes an important part of the process of dealing with new challenges and collecting reliable data; as well as to look at old problems with fresh eyes. These methods form the backbone of rigorous scientific research into gender in fisheries and aquaculture, and raise strong critiques rooted in women’s experiences and standpoints. Small-scale fisheries and gender will be cross cutting issues across all these sub-themes.

Please submit your abstracts, session and training workshop proposals by 31 March 2025.

Click here to register for GAF9 conference.