A call for greater protection of women’s, small-scale fisheries’ and economic, social, cultural (ESC) rights in seafood value chains

Abstract Recent media revelations and scientific research have brought increased attention to human rights violations and the myriad social issues facing fisheries, but with a disproportionate focus on labor rights violations at sea and in industrial fishing operations. Resulting social standards and schemes to address and mitigate these human rights violations are focused on at-sea offshore operations and the harvesting stage. These are imperative for protecting the rights of fishers, but largely preclude efforts to protect women who are engaged in harvesting on-shore or in post-harvest stages. This is exacerbated by the fact that the laser-focused protection of civil and political rights, often important for industrial scale fishing, has diminished attention and resources from protecting economic, social, and cultural (ESC) rights in small-scale fisheries. The protection of women\u0027s rights in seafood value chains urgently deserves more focus, as does the broader suite of human rights (ESC rights) that are particularly relevant in SSF. We end by providing concrete examples and best practices for protecting ESC and women’s rights in seafood value chains, in hopes of broader-scale recognition and adoption.