From crisis to institutional sustainability in the Chilean sea urchin fishery

Abstract

Artisanal and small-scale fisheries are frequently characterized as low-investment, part-time family operations, conducted by fishers who fish close to their villages mainly for subsistence, occasionally selling or bartering the surplus at local markets. Commercial diving for sea urchins in Chile is no doubt a small-scale fishery, if gauged by the size of the fishing units, and ‘artisanal’ according to the country’s fisheries legislation. Yet, it could not be more different from the above stereotype. Above all, this small-scale fishery has astounding dimensions along several axes...