How can a cooperative-based organization of indigenous fisheries foster the resilience to global changes? Lessons learned by coastal communities in eastern Québec

Abstract

Halieutic resources and small-scale fisheries are globally under stress due to global changes. This phenomenon has very strong impacts on the socioeconomic situation of vast coastal areas worldwide and of the communities living there, whose economies rely on the ocean. In the current context of a decrease of several halieutic stocks, there is a need of understanding what could be the avenues for fisheries-dependent communities to adapt to global changes whilst preserving both local biodiversity and their ability to develop themselves. In this paper, we explore how a cooperative fisheries organizational model could allow coastal communities to foster their development without increasing the pressure on the resource they harvest. Through the analysis of the example of northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) indigenous fisheries in eastern Québec, we expose how a cooperative-based organization of fisheries that is oriented towards community development can foster resilience against the current decline of the resource in a socially vulnerable context at a micro and macro level. Furthermore, we show how collaboration between diverse types of fisheries organizations can allow socially innovative practices to scale up.