Fisheries Cooperatives: The Solution to Fisheries Mismanagement?

As fisheries have a vital role in maintaining the social and economic cohesion in insular areas, where the majority of the population is employed within the fishing sector, regulation and control of the activity affect directly the fishing communities. Self-regulation has a significant impact on managing effectively Fisheries Protection Areas by gaining access to local expertise, resources and developing working relationships between the fisheries professionals and the local control and regulation authorities. In Greece, 18.8% of the territory consists of insular areas, enhancing thus the significance of fisheries communities for social cohesion. However, the notion of participation in regulation and control is still not widespread in the fishing communities as it is only practiced sporadically. Insufficient statutory control of illegal fishing heightens the need for promotion of self-regulation as a means to protect the marine resources, as well as promote local development, local employment and economic growth. Thus, creating incentives for fisheries professionals’ participation in regulation and control of the fishing activity is pivotal for the realisation of self-regulation. However, providing the fishermen with incentives has its drawbacks, as they do not always guarantee the expected outcome, namely productivity coupled with sustainability. One of the most common issues with incentives is the enforcement of the legislation and the decisions. This research focuses on the potential of fisheries cooperatives as solution to the problem of legislation and decision enforcement and, thus, as promoters of self-regulation in the fish stock management sector. Through the examination of international case studies, the study gives suggestions for the promotion of fisheries cooperatives in the Greek national waters that greatly lack self-organisation and the after effects that the adoption of such a policy would have in the area under examination.