A global organisation championing opportunities for women in the seafood industry has shut its doors.
The international organisation for Women in the Seafood Industry (WSI) ceased its work on 31 December 2021 with the board citing a lack of resources.
“The topic of gender equality remains a difficult space especially in the seafood industry – although strides have been made, much work remains to be done for gender equality to be recognised for the basic human right it is,” said a statement by the board.
“Despite years of hard labour, there is still a major lack of awareness and understanding of the complexity of these social issues. This is reflected in the lack of resources that are directed for this topic. It is in part due to this lack of sustainable economic model that we announce WSI is closing its doors,” it said.
WSI was co-founded in 2016 by Marie-Christine Monfort and other gender and seafood experts to help drive equality and women’s empowerment in the seafood industry.
Despite its ceasing to exist as a non-governmental organisation, the board says it is hopeful that other organisations will build on WSI’s legacy and continue to fight for an industry free of sexism and inequality.
“Closing WSI does not mean that the gender topic will be closing too, and we encourage each of you to continue changing mentalities, processes and help on raising this matter that will impact profitably our companies and institutions for generations to come,” concluded the statement.
