Turning the Tide

The Meryl Williams Fellowships honour a leading light in fisheries and aquaculture research, management and outreach, the unassuming and quietly spoken Dr Meryl Williams.

Dr Meryl Williams talking to the first group of Meryl Williams Fellows at the University of New Engalnd in Armidale, Australia - Jan 2020.

During the early days of her fisheries research career, in the mid-1970s, Dr Meryl Williams often felt like the proverbial fish out of water.

"At the very start, I was usually the only female scientist in the room," Meryl says. "There were still 'girly' calendars in the lab and tearoom, and I remember male scientists protesting to the union when our only female technician was assigned to join a week-long field trip.

"I was a pioneer in my field, but I played it down. I wanted to be known for the quality of my work and leadership, not just because I was a woman. However, I very soon began to question how the system worked when it came to gender."

Over the next 40 years Meryl would lead research and development agencies at the national, regional and global level. After serving as director of the Australian Institute of Marine Science and as executive director of Australia's Bureau of Rural Sciences, she began working globally as director general of the WorldFish Centre, one of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centres.

Along the way, Meryl became an advocate for the many inspiring and industrious women she met, most of them invisible to the industries that depended upon them. First came her role as chair of the Advisory Board of the CGIAR Gender and Diversity Program, then Meryl and a small, dedicated group began organising global symposia dedicated to discussing women and gender in fisheries and aquaculture under the auspices of the Asian Fisheries Society (AFS). This eventually led to the creation of the Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries Section of AFS.

That she developed into a champion for women, determined to advance research and practice in gender equality, is largely thanks to one man.

"It was my colleague, the late Dr Mudnakudu Channabasappa Nandeesha (an innovative Indian aquaculture researcher, development worker and educator, and a founding member of the not-for-profit Aquaculture without Frontiers), who persuaded me by his enthusiasm to devote progressively more of my time to redressing gender inequality in the fisheries, aquaculture and food value chains," Meryl says. "He prompted me to use my position to promote the issues, invited me to speak at conferences, and suggested that we invite AFS to host the symposia, which became a regular feature. Since then, a large part of my work has sought to highlight the contributions of women to fisheries and aquaculture, and to try to persuade agencies to give voice to those women who can't speak up."

In the case of aquaculture, those contributions are immeasurable. The globe's extensive aquaculture operations rely on the efforts of millions of women in farming and processing, but they are largely absent from management. Especially in SouthEast Asia, Africa and Latin America, female workers and small-scale business owners are often poorly paid and exploited. They continue to be "caught in the crosshairs" of economics, with limited access to resources (like training, capital and credit), technology and markets.

"The farming opportunities and benefits for women have not kept pace with the booming growth of aquaculture," Meryl says. "Many are falling behind as enterprises intensify and scale up production. Where women are welcome is as cheap labour in processing factories."

However, Meryl believes that the continued sustainability of aquaculture, and its potential to improve food security and nutrition in some of the world's poorest nations, depends on encouraging more women to contribute to research and production.

"Fisheries and aquaculture are very dynamic sectors, and gender equity is at the core of change," she says. "I see it as my responsibility now to help other women succeed by drawing the attention of policy and decision-makers to their important contributions."

It's a far cry from Meryl's own experience. "People like me who become scientists and research scientists, in the main, come from fairly privileged backgrounds," she says. "In addition, I came to my international leadership positions in fisheries and aquaculture at a senior level, and position trumps gender. Education and experience also helped. But what is most important to me is not my own progress but the progress of the people I work with and for."

Meryl says she has learnt that if gender equality is to be achieved in any sphere of agriculture then it must engage men - and multiple institutions - because it's not merely a production issue but a value chain and social justice issue. And this human dimension is central to sustainability.

"Everyone stands to benefit from the transformation that occurs in a progressive environment that breaks down the political and economic barriers to achieving gender equality," she says. "Studies continually show that when women receive adequate income and support they are more likely to use it for the good of their family and community - and this is a lesson not only for developing nations."

As for the Meryl Williams Fellowship, its namesake is excited by the enthusiasm and creativity of the next generation coming forward. "For this group of women, a lot of the issues are out on the table; we no longer need to make a case for why gender equality matters," she says. "We have goals and targets, and more voices supporting change.

"The fellowships give women the opportunity to develop leadership skills that will enable them not only to improve their economies, but also their communities and institutions. For they will go on to become leaders - in institutions that create cultures and deliver on their missions - and the mentoring they receive throughout the GEAReD program will enhance the influence they can have.

"Gender equality is not just about projects, which undoubtedly help in practical ways; it's also about policies and social change that ensure that such projects are taken up and make a difference to peoples' lives."

Click here to learn more about the Meryl Williams Fellowship.

Words by Amanda Burdon.