Etosha Fishing excels at gender inclusivity

In the male dominated world of the fishing industry, Etosha Fishing stands out as a shining beacon of gender inclusivity and women empowerment.

Nearly half of the management team at the company is female, while the majority of the workforce comprises women.
For billions of people worldwide the ocean is a life-support system – providing food, jobs and resources. Spanning economically important sectors, such as fisheries, maritime shipping, deep-sea mining, renewable energy and tourism, the potential return on investment in the blue economy is huge. As the buzz around the social and economic benefits of ‘blue growth’ builds, calls for gender equality to be an integral part of this economic opportunity are becoming louder.
This year World Ocean’s Day celebrated on 8 June under the theme ‘Gender and the Ocean’ shone the spotlight on women and their role in the ocean economy. The message was clear that working in a predominantly male orientated ocean economy, women of the world have a lot to contribute towards the future sustainability of the resource. Further-more, Day of the Seafarer marked on 25 June also highlights the importance and value of women within the professional ranks of the maritime world and is celebrated under the banner ´I am on board with gender equality’.
“For the world to achieve sustainability in the ocean, we must be gender inclusive in all blue economic activities,” Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Hon Bernard Esau said during the official event marking World Oceans Day celebrations in Walvis Bay. He noted that women are already making huge contributions towards the health and sustainability of our ocean and the role the resource plays in the national economy.
“It was never a conscious decision to exclusively employ women in leading positions at the company,” Etosha Fishing Acting MD and former Financial Director Nezette Beukes says. She considers the fact that most of the key managerial positions at Etosha Fishing are occupied by women a clear illustration that females are just as capable as their male counterparts.