Presentation short abstract

I connect scholarship on marine ecosystems, energy transitions, and gendered relations to understand the division of labour in small-scale fisheries during the introduction of renewables into geographies of conflict (Yemen), combining feminist, blue, and energy theoretical perspectives.

Presentation long abstract

This paper connects scholarship on marine ecosystems, energy transitions, and gendered relations to understand the division of labour in small-scale fisheries during the introduction of renewables into geographies of conflict. It builds on feminist, blue, and energy perspectives on security, sovereignty, justice, and degrowth on a study of international organisations' (IOs) projects in Yemen’s conflict. I argue that IOs treat fish as a commodity in Yemen, which reduces the possibility of phasing out fossil fuels from global cold supply chain, of challenging the traditional gendered division of labour in fisheries, and of securing subsistence for local communities. Based on the analysis of interviews with donors, UN system, and local NGOs, as well as document analysis, I demonstrate that through individual entrepreneurship programmes, IOs assist artisanal fishermen and women smallholders processing fish at the expense of fisherwomen; by excluding fisherfolk from renewable energy support, IOs make them rely on fossil fuels to catch and process fish. I further show that through the rehabilitation of post-harvesting infrastructure, IOs provide hybrid energy systems instead of phasing fossil fuels out of fisheries. While fishermen, SME workers, and women employed in fish processing value chain directly benefit from these facilities, fisherwomen do not have access to them. I also highlight that through the (re)construction of fish exports-processing sites, run on fossil fuels to power the global cold supply chain, IOs promote fish exports abroad at the expense of supporting local subsistence. I address implications of fish commercialisation on energy transitions in the agrarian South.