Women in Fishing. You Can Also Build a Scientific Career

Beneliza Noarises has grabbed every chance to not only build a scientific career but to do it in the traditionally male-dominated fishing sector. She’s a sea-going Quality Controller for Erongo Marine, a subsidiary of Oceana.

With most South Africans focused on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) or more parochially, when the lights are coming back on or going off again, the UN’s Day to recognise Women and Girls in Science (Saturday 11 February) largely slipped by unnoticed.

Beneliza Noarises thinks that’s a pity because she believes more women should be pursuing their dreams. Even if that means pushing back the boundaries in traditionally male-dominated fields, including science.

Thankfully times have changed since women at Harvard University weren’t allowed to look through telescopes, and only do calculations. But societal prejudices, poverty, and education systems that are sometimes lacking, still denies opportunities to many aspirant female scientists in southern Africa.

A career in the fishing sector

A job as a packer at Cadbury was an unlikely start to a scientific career, but a foot in the door was all Beneliza needed. After a few months she was promoted to quality support assistant. It was here that she was first exposed to product development and, importantly, the scientific rigours of food-quality testing.

Her aptitude and enthusiasm led to the company supporting her studies at UNISA where she obtained a higher certificate in total quality management. She also added certificates in microbiology for non-microbiologists, internal auditing, FSSC 22000 awareness, research, development and quality amongst others.

Sink or swim

Sometime later the Safety Health Environment and Quality manager resigned and Beneliza was offered the job in an acting position.

“Even with the fear in the back of my mind, I knew this was an opportunity to prove myself and that I was capable and deserving. I took on the role and ran the department successfully for two years,” she says.

It was a great start to a career that had begun as an 18-year-old unqualified packer, but she would have to navigate some storms before getting her career back on track. In 2014 the company closed and Beneliza was retrenched.

Undaunted by the temporary setback, she got another job as a quality assurance officer at another company where she worked for seven years, before going to sea as one of the quality controllers in the Oceana Group in 2021.

Taking it on the chin

She is the only woman working in the fish processing area, with responsibility across two horse mackerel fishing vessels. Here she grades fish, assesses them according to quality standards, checks the weights of the frozen blocks are correct, and verifies the temperatures from receiving to end product. She also maintains the hazard analysis critical point control (HACCP) system, monitors for non-compliance, and reports her findings.

“It’s a male-dominated industry and it’s easy to be intimidated. Working at sea has taught me to be strong, confident, resilient and willing because as women we always have to prove ourselves,” she says.

“Our career choices should not be limited by our gender. More women, especially women of colour, are taking up their rightful places in the field of science and other sectors previously mainly the preserve of men. This becomes a virtuous circle because it shows other girls and women their dreams are obtainable.”

The famous French physicist, Marie Curie, may have identified with this. Her membership of the male dominated Académie des Sciences was rejected until she won her second Nobel prize.

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