A networking event has been held in Ireland with the aim of encouraging more women into the seafood sector.
The networking event, hosted by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland’s Seafood Development Agency, believes that a professional networking forum will support and drive greater female participation in the sector.
“This is an important event that not only celebrates the many dedicated and talented women in Ireland’s seafood industry but enables us to discuss how women in this sector can, as a professional forum, provide support, share information and enhance their capacity to contribute to the industry’s future,” said Jim O’Toole, BIM’s CEO.
The event was facilitated by the Australian Women’s Industry Network Seafood Community (WINSC) which was established in December 2016 by female seafood professionals.
President Leonie Noble and Directors’ Jayne Gallagher and Jenny Shaw from WINSC were among the speakers at the event.
BIM said that Ireland’s Seafood Industry, similar to other countries, is male dominated, particularly in the fishing sector. It said there are less than five Irish fishing vessels with female registered owners and only a handful of active female fishers.
The event was funded under the European Maritime Fisheries Fund and is part of a wider change management programme for the fishing industry being implemented by BIM.
