Gender issues in coastal and marine environment h ave exposed deep social inequalities among users of the natural resources such as patriarchy, cultural norms, under-representation in decision making and unequal access to material, social and natural resources. The research thus assesses the gender status of fisherfolks in the coastal communities of Delta and Bayelsa States.
A multistage sampling technique was adopted using structured questionnaire to collect information from 240 fisherfolks from both states. Data was analysed using the Harvard analytical framework, the descriptive statistics, multiple response and regression
The descriptive result revealed majority of fisherfolks were permanent fishers with mean age of 40.65±10.65 for Bayelsa State and 47.12±11.60 for Delta State . Bayelsa S tate fisherfolks were majorly of the Hausa tribe (51.7%) and the Delta State were more of the Igbo tribe (33.3%). The tested hypothesis revealed that socioeconomic parameters were significant at 1% in the both State s while the multiple response showed the existence of inequality in decision making at the household level . The productive and community activities been majorly dominated by men fisherfolks . However, it was observed that in Bayelsa State men were marginalization in all measures of inequality except in control over some resources and benefits.
The interlink between fisherfolks and gender issues would be a right place for policy making and interventions in the fisheries sectors of these states. This would contribute to meeting the SDG’s “no poverty’ and “gender equality” by 2030. Support from the government through policy intervention and gender sensitive training should be administered equitably.