The Privatization of the Sea and Artisan Fishing in Chile

Abstract

"The growth and development of the artisan fishing sector in Chile is a well known fact. The available data shows that production, employment, equipment and work materials of this sector have grown greatly from 1970 onwards. Added to this development is an accelerated process of privatization of the sea. This new phenomenon is producing significant transformations in artisan fishing activities and has created a new context, which could become either a threat or an opportunity for the community of artisan fishermen in the country. The research studies strengths and weaknesses which enable or impede fishermen's organizations to carry out collective productive activities and to advance in a process of self-sustained development. It includes an analysis of factors that lead the artisan fishermen's organizations to demand grants and the problems they confront in organizing themselves and in obtaining these grants. This paper also attempts to analyze different forms of handling the productive process and the system of work within the grants. This analysis will determine factors that have facilitated the success of this collective work, production organizations and difficulties they have encountered in their internal operation."