abstract The marginalisation of small-scale fisheries is a global phenomenon. The transformative agenda of small-scale fishing policies in South Africa (SA) since the late 1990s as a response is apparent in literature (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 2012). Poor black African women,1 who are the focus of this study, form part of this economically lower class of the fishing industry. The 2012 small-scale fishing policy recognises women’s needs, previously overlooked in the small-scale fisheries. However, these policy initiatives do not effectively interrogate gender-specific socio-economic dynamics. Women, especially from poor black African coastal communities of SA, continue to face gender-specific challenges that deny them equality of access to marine resources and the benefits therein. Gender inequalities manifest themselves in words that are used to refer to women involved in small-scale fisheries. These include ‘mussel collectors’, ‘fish traders’ and ‘processors’ as identity markers of their involvement, which refer to a fishing activity next to the shore, complementary to men’s, and analysed in the context of household livelihood strategy. Such words stereotype offshore fishing as essentially a male profession. Therefore, poor women are not only part of the lower class of the fishing industry, they also face gender-specific challenges within the already diverse fishing industry. The intersectionality of gender and class in this study thus highlights economic and sociocultural dynamics that produce these identity markers and perpetuate inequalities in terms of knowledge, access, economic status, power relations and human interactions within the small-scale fishing industry. On the basis of literature and unstructured interviews with women in some regions in KwaZulu-Natal, this focus piece underscores the role of words in isolating women’s participation in the sector, producing gender-specific categories. Such categories become identity markers that bring about structural economic challenges for women within the fishing sector.

中文翻译：

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您是渔民还是贻贝收藏家？：检查小型渔业中的性别身份标记

摘要 小规模渔业的边缘化是一个全球现象。自 1990 年代后期以来，南非（SA）小规模渔业政策的变革议程作为回应在文献中显而易见（农业、林业和渔业部，2012 年）。贫穷的非洲黑人妇女 1 是本研究的重点，她们是渔业经济中较低阶层的一部分。2012 年的小规模渔业政策承认了妇女的需求，而这在以前的小规模渔业中是被忽视的。然而，这些政策举措并没有有效地询问特定性别的社会经济动态。妇女，尤其是来自南非贫穷的非洲黑人沿海社区的妇女，继续面临着性别特定的挑战，这些挑战使她们无法平等地获得海洋资源并从中受益。性别不平等表现在用来指代从事小型渔业的妇女的词语中。其中包括“贻贝采集者”、“鱼类贸易商”和“加工商”，作为他们参与的身份标志，指的是岸边的捕鱼活动，对男性的补充，并在家庭生计战略的背景下进行分析。这些词将近海捕鱼定型为男性职业。因此，贫困妇女不仅是渔业中下层阶级的一部分，她们还在已经多样化的渔业中面临着性别特定的挑战。因此，本研究中性别和阶级的交叉性突出了经济和社会文化动态，这些动态产生了这些身份标记，并使知识、机会、经济地位、小型渔业中的权力关系和人类互动。基于对夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省某些地区妇女的文献和非结构化访谈，这篇焦点文章强调了词语在隔离妇女参与该部门、产生特定性别类别方面的作用。这些类别成为身份标志，给渔业部门的妇女带来结构性经济挑战。