Celebrating women in aquaculture

Today, more women are graduating in aquaculture from higher education institutes and gender parity has been achieved in some cases. More women are entering highly skilled employment. 

Yet, women are still more commonly seen participating in small-scale aquaculture production, post-harvest industrial and artisanal processing, value addition, marketing and sales. Few women are senior staff, owners, managers and executives in the larger enterprises.

Aquaculture North America (ANA), in partnership with Merck Animal Health, is launching a new project celebrating women in the North American industry. 

Women in North American Aquaculture, or WINAA, aims to understand the road to gender equality in the industry. A new monthly podcast series will launch in January, featuring influential women and how they’ve made an impact. 

ANA will also host a live virtual event on Sept. 8, 2022 to gather together men and women in the North American aquaculture industry to tackle solutions for equal pay, entrepreneurship, innovation, training and mentorship. 

“As our industry continues to grow, so does its workforce, and women are an important part of the equation,” said Jeremy Thain, associate publisher of the aquaculture division at Annex Business Media. 

“Our goal for the WINAA program and event is to spotlight influential women, sharing their stories, achievements, challenges and wisdom with industry through our Aquaculture North America media channels.”