La pesca indígena de autoconsumo en Veracruz. Papel en la dieta y división genérica del trabajo.

Fishing activities in Mexico are ruled by a strong gender division of labor: men fish in lagoons and at the sea, while women sell produce or fish in lagoons and rivers for selfconsumption. However, the implications of such gender division of labor in terms of women's access to aquatic resources and the relevance of their fishing activities to the diet have remained unexplored in the literature. This paper aims at contributing to these issues by analyzing subsistence fishing practices in Ixhuapan, a native community in the Sierra de Santa Marta, Veracruz. Data were gathered using group and individual interviews, a socioeconomic survey and four consumption surveys. Results indicate that the variety and size of subsistence fishing produce have been reduced to two species: shrimp and mojarra. The gender construction of fishing instruments determine the kind of animals that women and men can catch. Women use matayahuales (circular nets) to trap fish, while men use arrows, large nets and mata-yahuales, these latter only on special occasions. The paper concludes that the use of certain fishing instruments does not depend on men's or women's physical abilities but rather on local cultural norms that establish female adequate behavior, thus limiting women's access to aquatic resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]