In this study, we take a novel approach by characterizing post-landing trends of small-scale fisheries resources and estimating their total economic value, including both commercial and subsistence values, in a remote rural region in Madagascar. Small-scale fisheries make key contributions to food security, sustainable livelihoods and poverty reduction, yet to date the economic value of small-scale fisheries has been poorly quantified.

This review sheds light on a new aspectof the application of gender research to fisheries research, with an emphasis onecological understanding within a broader context of interdisciplinary approaches.

Finally, weexamined why the data gap on women’s fishing practices has persisted, detailingseveral ways in which commonly used research methods may perpetuate biasedsampling that overlooks women’s fishing. The descriptive details of women’s often distinct fish-ing practices nonetheless provide important ecological information with implica-tions for understanding the human role in marine ecosystems.

We found that beyond gender difference in fishing practices throughoutthe world, the literature reveals a quantitative data gap in the characterization ofgender in small-scale fisheries. To examine the importance of gen-der to the understanding of marine ecology, we identified 106 case studies ofsmall-scale fisheries from the last 20 years that detail the participation of womenin fishing (data on women fishers being the most common limiting factor to genderanalysis). The implications of a gender approach to fisheries have been explored insocial approaches to fisheries, but the relevance of gender analysis for ecologicalunderstandings has yet to be fully elaborated. Even with growing recognition that women do fish,there remains an imperative to engage in more meaningful and relevant genderanalysis to improve socio-ecological approaches to fisheries research and manage-ment. Marine ecosystem–scale fisheries research and management must include the fish-ing effort of women and men.

Coastal flats nutrition information