Brussels, 27/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - Last week the European Commission organised a first-ever conference on the little known role of women in the fisheries sector. At the conference, Commissioner Franz Fischler explained that women accounted for 22% of the total sector workforce and their involvement is high given the frequent absence of fishermen at sea. Participants (135 women from the fisheries sector from all Member States) exchanged their "not-the-ground" experience and discussed the results of a Commission study on the subject. Commission officials examined the different kinds of aid women could benefit from under Structural Funds: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund; the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG); Community programmes such as EQUAL and Leonardo de Vinci, as well as projects under the Fifth Framework Programme. The study is available on DG Fisheries website: (http: //europa.int/comm/fisheries/doc_et_publ/pub_en.htm).