International Women’s Day is often a moment for celebration. This year, it is also a moment for action.
The 2026 themes - ‘Balance the Scales’ and ‘Give to Gain’ - call on us to move beyond recognition and toward tangible change. They ask us to address structural barriers by investing deliberately in one another. For those of us working in fisheries MCS, compliance and enforcement, this reciprocal investment is not abstract. It is practical. It is urgent. And deeply connected to the future strength of our community.
Wavemakers is a response to that reality. A long-term investment focused on strengthening people for the benefit of our oceans.
When I think about the IMCS Network, I always come back to one simple truth: our work has always been about people.
It is about the professionals working at the forefront of fisheries MCS, compliance and enforcement. The individuals making difficult decisions in complex institutional environments. Those who often carry significant responsibility, sometimes with limited support, often in isolation.
Over the years, I have had the privilege of working alongside experienced colleagues across regions and sectors. I have also seen, quietly and consistently, the structural barriers that limit professional progression in our field.
Access to guidance is uneven. Opportunities are not always visible. Confidence can be eroded in environments where it is difficult to speak honestly.
Wavemakers was born out of honest conversations about these challenges and the inequities they create. It emerged through dialogue with many senior women leaders who have navigated these realities over decades. It was shaped through discussions with our Advisory Committee: Jung re Riley Kim, Dr Penelope Ridings and Rhea Moss-Christian. Their experience across the fisheries community brings both insight and lived understanding to this work.
It has also been shaped by the IMCS Network team, all of whom have worked in fisheries and understand the challenges first hand. Together, we recognised that professional growth does not happen automatically. It requires deliberate investment in people. Wavemakers was created as a practical response to this reality.
Why now
The timing of Wavemakers is not accidental.
Across the global fisheries community, the professionals responsible for MCS, compliance and enforcement are navigating an increasingly complex landscape. Regulatory environments are shifting. Institutional pressures are mounting. And the pipeline of confident, well-connected practitioners that effective fisheries governance depends on is not building itself.
At the same time, a generation of experienced women leaders — many of whom built their careers without the support structures that should have existed — are at a point in their professional lives where they have both the experience and the genuine desire to invest in others.
This is the moment. Not because the calendar says so, but because the conditions are right and the need is clear.
Wavemakers brings these two realities together deliberately. Those who guide will also learn. Those who are supported will also contribute. That reciprocity is not a design feature. It is the whole point.
At its core, Wavemakers reflects values that matter deeply to me and the IMCS Network:
- Integrity in being honest about the realities professionals face.
- Generosity in sharing experience and opening doors.
- Courage in questioning assumptions and expanding participation.
- Collective responsibility in recognising that strengthening people strengthens institutions.
This idea did not come from a strategy document. It came from listening. It came from recognising that many professionals, particularly women and those from underrepresented contexts, do not always have access to the kind of support that helps them build confidence and move forward in their careers.
It came from an understanding that if we want a resilient, capable global fisheries community, we must invest in the people within it.
Wavemakers is regionally anchored and globally relevant. It reflects Pacific perspectives, the heart of the IMCS Network, while building cross regional connections. It is grounded in experience, responsibility and trust.
Twenty five years ago, the Santiago Declaration recognised that cooperation was essential for our community. Today, cooperation must also mean investing in one another. Wavemakers is one way we are choosing to do exactly that.
Pathways are not created in isolation. They are shaped by those who came before us. For my father, whose quiet intelligence, warmth, humour and grace remain my compass.