Access to, use of and management of natural resources is a gendered process. So is project implementation. The roles of men and women and the relationships between men and women in a particular context affects their livelihood strategies. The involvement of women in the seaweed sector is a new occurrence. Seaweed farming was pioneered by the Placencia Fishermen?s Cooperative, who are all made up of men and women were not involved. The emergence of the BWSFA makes it a potential competitor to more experience men in seaweed farming. The move into seaweed farming for men was a much more natural extension of seafaring activities as compared to women as they would have already been on the water for fishing purposes and would have had access to the equipment such as boats. Women on the other hand do not have easy access to this equipment. Consequently, women face social and economic barriers to involvement in the industry. Gender analysis carried out with members of the BWSFA shows that while women perform in productive roles, they have second layer of social reproductive roles. The role of men on the other hand are predominantly focus on productive activities and do not necessarily carry out social reproductive roles as much as women. These put the women at a disadvantage especially with their time burden for other activities such as being involved in project activities.

Environmental (ecological) Seaweed farming is one of the most ecofriendly activities in Mariculture. It is not expected that this project will have any significant negative effects on the environment. Instead, farms have so far proven to be new habitats for many marine species including fish and invertebrates. Marine surveys have shown increased fish biodiversity in and around the farms compared to areas where no farms are located and has shown no negative impacts to the benthic communities. Social (empowerment) The project will be working specifically with women and fishers from coastal communities. The persons who will be involved in this project are already involved in seaweed farming albeit on a small scale. The aim of this project is to scale up their current activities in order to begin to achieve tangible income benefits from the farms. This project will not only contribute to achieving this aim but also empower women economically in order to gain independent livelihoods. Economic (community livelihood) Coastal communities are dependent on fishing and tourism as their main livelihood activities. Existing fisheries are under tremendous pressure from a multitude of sources and many fishers today claim that their production has consistently been falling along with their incomes. On the other hand, due to the effects of COVID19, tourism has essential come to standstill along with all the services that community members used to provide such as food preparation, hospitality services, tours, guiding, taxis and so on. Not only is seaweed production an opportunity for income generation for residents of coastal communities, it is also an opportunity for the diversification of the economy of coastal communities and can help in post COVID-19 pandemic recovery of the national economy. There are markets both locally and internationally for seaweed and this project will contribute to the development of these markets in a significant way.