Source: Greenpeace Statement –
Thiès, March 30, 2026 – While the world celebrates women, Senegalese fish processors are still waiting for the law to acknowledge they exist. The Network of Women in Artisanal Fishing in Senegal (REFEPAS) is calling on authorities to officially recognize their profession. These women are essential to the fishing supply chain, yet they remain legally invisible — even as they sustain food security and local economies.
Fish stocks are shrinking, and with them, the livelihoods of women who have built their lives around the sea. Markets are emptying. Incomes are falling. Precarity is becoming the norm.
The causes are well known: industrial fishing fleets overharvesting resources for export, fishmeal and fish oil factories diverting fish away from local tables, and the growing pressure of oil and gas projects along Senegal’s coastline.
Yet despite their vital role, these women have no recognized legal status — which shuts them out of decision-making and strips them of social protection.
“We work every day to feed our families and our country, but legally, we don’t exist. Without status, we have no protection and no voice in the decisions that affect us,” says Diaba Diop, President of REFEPAS.
REFEPAS is calling on the government to act:
- Official recognition of the fish processor profession
- Meaningful inclusion of women in fisheries governance
- Greater transparency in the management of fishing resources
Artisanal fishing is a pillar of national food security, and women are at the heart of it. Marginalizing them is not only unjust — it puts entire coastal communities and the food supply at risk.