Transitions from wild-caught fisheries to shellfish and seaweed aquaculture increase gender equity in Maine

Transitions from wild-caught and high-input finfish aquaculture to low-input or non-fed aquaculture will help to meet global blue-growth goals. These industries may also increase participation by women as compared to wild-caught fisheries that have been traditionally male-dominated. Here we ask whether transitions to shellfish and seaweed (or non-fed) aquaculture increase gender equity in Maine’s fisheries, where the lobster fishery has been dominant for three decades. We find that non-fed aquaculture has increased women’s participation by more than four times; 23.1 % of shellfish and seaweed aquaculture license holders are female, compared to 4.8 % of lobster license holders. Women’s participation is highest (37.8 %) within the fast-growing, but relatively low-value seaweed aquaculture sector and lowest (17.6 %) in higher-value oyster farming. Women hold half of the Limited Purpose Aquaculture licenses (a subclass of licenses intended to simplify the process of entering into aquaculture) for seaweed, suggesting that they function to increase women’s participation. Women in these industries attribute differential female participation in non-fed aquaculture as compared to lobster fisheries to fewer gendered institutional barriers, an ability to achieve more independence in marketing and distribution, and more flexible working hours. Exclusionary institutions are still seen as barriers to success in non-fed aquaculture, but female farmers also report that they have created informal leadership roles focused on community building and social responsibility. Together these results suggest that transitions to non-fed aquaculture have the potential to increase gender equity in this sector of seafood production, but further reducing gendered institutions is key to achieving this outcome.